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LY cl t ^ 1_1 


A Story of Egypt 


BY 


LAURA DAYTON FESSENDEN 

Author of “A Colonial Dame,” “Bonnie MacKirby,” 
“The Moon Children,” Etc. 





LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

JAN 4 1905 

y . Copyiiguc entry 
USS G' XXc. Not 

to 

COPY B. 

— >'■■ ''«■ 



Copyright , 1504 

By Laura Dayton Fessenden 


c‘t 


27ie Canterbury Press , Highland Park (Chicago), Illinois 


I dedicate 
this 

Story of Egypt 
to 

My Dearest and Best Friend 

nr>\> ibusbanb 

LAURA DAYTON FESSENDEN 
Highland Park, Illinois 


‘ ‘ H appiegoluckie * 9 
Christmas, 1904 



PART I. 


CHAPTER I. 

The fifth day of the first month of summer had 
come, and in a sunset of gold and purple hues, the 
Nile was glorified; birds had ceased their songs, 
the air was heavy with the perfume of flowers, and 
away to the westward the evening star was setting. 

Here, and there, along the shore, lithe, tawney- 
skinned girls filled earthern jars with water, then 
lifted them to their shoulders, and walked across 
the greenness, into the deepening night. 

On this delta — or plain — of lower Egypt, there 
stood, three thousand years ago, the city of Abydos; 
it measured ten square miles in circumference, and 
was shut in on three sides, by walls of reddish sand- 
stone and the unwalled side — fronting the Nile — was 
a pleasure ground, belonging to a Royal residence 
and named, the “ Palace of Tears,” so called be- 
cause it was occupied by the King or his family 
only during seasons of personal, or national distress. 
Entrance into Abydos, was obtainable through 
three gateways, and over each there were towers, in 
which night and day, year in, and year out, the 
priests of Osirus, kept watch and ward with much 
fasting and many prayers. 

i 


H atsu 


The word “ SILENCE ” was cut into the stone 
arch above each gate, and within the city A conversa- 
tion was carried on in whispers; no sound of instru- 
ments of music, no peal of bells, was ever heard, 
only the lowing of cattle in the Royal meadows, and 
the bellowing of sacred bulls, in the temple grounds, 
only the singing of birds among the trees, and the 
never ceasing chant of the priests broke the stillness. 

The reason the city of Abydos was so sanctified 
a spot was because it was believed to be the resting 
place of all that had once been mortal of the Man- 
GOD, Osirus. 

On this summer night three thousand years ago, 
in the Palace of Tears, Tothmes the First, of Egypt, 
lay dying. 

He had been a wise ruler, an able statesman, a 
brave and successful soldier. Under his guidance 
and supervision, architecture in Egypt had pro- 
gressed, many new temples had been built, many 
ancient ruins restored. 

At Memphis he had erected a grand palace, and 
in the same city had beautified the temple of 
Ammon; but the greatest act of his reign, was the 
taking down, of the barriers, that had isolated 
Egypt from the world, beyond its borders, for ten 
centuries of time; the only blot on this King’s life 
page was the enslavement of the Israelites, in a 
bitter and cruel bondage. 


2 


H atsu 


Now, this great ruler lay upon his golden couch 
in an upper room in the Palace of Tears, waiting, 
in perfect consciousness, for the end. 

It was his wish that in his last hour, all should 
leave him, save his daughter, the Princess Hatsu, 
an olive-skinned, dark-eyed girl, who lay sobbing 
upon his breast. 

All sense of pain had left the once tortured body 
of the King, and a peace, like that of the twilight 
without, had fallen upon him. 

One hand cold with the damps of departing life 
was slowly and tenderly caressing the long braids of 
the girl’s dark hair. 

“ Hatsu,” said the King, “ do not cry any more, 
all the tears of Egypt, all the prayers of her priests 
avail not to stay this life of mine. Child, it mat- 
ters not whether that which we call breath , is lodged 
under a King’s robe, or a beggar’s rags, at the bid- 
ding of some almighty power, it comes forth and 
goes its way into the unknown. Hatsu, the call has 
come to me, and I would fain be gone. I only linger 
to gain the promise that you will wed Tothmes the 
Second, for, full well I know, that, when your 
brother sits upon the throne, his mother, — standing 
behind the chair of state, — will speak her wish, 
through his poor faltering lips; full well I know 
that she will so guide and counsel her son that worse 
than sorrow may come to be your portion, because 


3 


H atsu 


you will not become wife to the Prince — your 
brother. Child, how can I meet in some beyond 
the young mother who gave her life for yours, and 
to her question, ‘Is it well with my babe?’ make 
answer ‘ nay.’ ” 

The girl raised herself with a slowness that showed 
how weak and spent she was ; she unknit her fingers 
from those of the King, and rose and stood before 
him. 

“ Father,” she said, “ the promise you ask holds 
more of torture for my woman’s soul than you with 
your man’s nature can know, yet I defy your will no 
longer. I give you promise to wed Tothmes the 
Second.” 

The King, with a mighty effort, raised himself to 
a sitting posture, his face was pinched and ghastly 
pale, his eyes gleamed with an unnatural light as 
he gasped, “ Down upon your knees, girl, and re- 
peat slowly and distinctly, that I may miss no word, 
the ‘oath prayer ! Quick! girl, quick!” 

She knelt at his bidding and slowly and quietly 
said these words: 

“ O Thou Beneficent One! 

“ Protector of life ! 

“ Thou to whom we flee for succor, when earth’s 
tempests lower, or when death draws near. 

“ To Thee, Great Principal, our Sun, our Moon, 
our Star. 


4 


Hatsu 


“To Thee, the guide of all who pass into the 
realms of shade, I call. Elder brother, Thou who 
having once been man and endured like us life’s 
temptations. Thou knowest our infirmities, and can 
therefore with divine compassion forgive our prone- 
ness to err. 

“ O, Osirus, Thou that shall judge us at the last 
day, and with infinite tenderness, shield us from 
Seth and his geni, when they strive to prove before 
the great tribunal, the unfitness of a world soul, for 
the realms of bliss. 

“ O, Osiris, I swear to Thee, to obey the will of 
my father the King.” 

Like a falcon, that needs but the loosing of the 
silken thread, that it may lift its wings and mount 
into the blue, the soul of Tothmes the First, upon 
the promise of his child, soared upward, and was 
not; and her cry of anguish told to those who stood 
without that the time had come in which to pro- 
claim the reign of Tothmes the Second. 


5 


H atsu 


CHAPTER II. 

The seventy-two days of mourning for the dead 
had been accomplished, the oblations and purifica- 
tions of the living had been performed. 

Again it was night in the Palace of Tears. 

The ladies-in-waiting upon the Princess Hatsu 
were weary of the funeral pomp and circumstance 
by which they had been for so many weeks en- 
vironed, and one and all hailed with delight the 
prospect of beginning on the morrow, the journey 
back to Thebes, where their royal mistress was to 
wed the now reigning jCing of Egypt. 

So they had happy thoughts, as they silently re- 
garded Her Highness, who, with her favorite serv- 
ing maid, standing behind her chair, sat by one of 
the narrow windows, her arm upon the sill, her hand 
forming a rest for her face, as she looked out on 
the river and the palace garden, bathed in the splen- 
dor of a full moon’s light. 

The maid behind the Princess’ chair was a girl 
whose appearance was in marked contrast, through 
its race characteristics, to the other women present. 
Her skin, unlike the Egyptian ladies’, was devoid of 
yellow tinting, and its whiteness was the more 
marked because of the faint rose bloom on cheek 
6 


H atsu 


and lip. Her hair, rippling on either side of her 
broad brow, was brown in color, and its two heavy 
braids fell to the hem of her gown. 

Her large blue eyes were shaded by long golden 
brown lashes; her eyebrows, strongly arched, were 
black. 

When she smiled, a little dimple played at hide- 
and-seek in one of the rounded cheeks and there was 
a shimmer of pearls between the rosy lips. 

The ladies-in-waiting upon the Princess Hatsu 
were all daughters of high priests, for the priest- 
hood of Egypt represented, with the military of- 
ficials, the gentry of Mizram. The function of 
priesthood was not confined exclusively to ecclesiastic 
thought; it embraced beside theology the profes- 
sions of law, medicine, science, philosophy, poetry, 
and history, so it is easily seen that an intellectual, 
rather than a so-called spiritual condition was the 
priestly requirement. 

There was no such thing in Egypt as succession 
from father to son. Outside the office of kingship 
itself, knowledge was the power, through which one 
and all must mount to distinction; education was a 
free gift to the people, irrespective of caste, and the 
child of the humblest pilot or artisan of to-day, 
might, through the force of his mentality, be the 
priestly or military influence behind a to-morrow’s 
throne. 


7 


H atsu 


Each Nome — or State — in Egypt had its High 
Priest or Governor; to him was entrusted the con- 
trol of the industries of his province — the graneries, 
the garden produce, and all manufactured arti< 
and to him came the rentals of public lands 
houses that had been dedicated by the kingdom or 
given by private individuals for the service of some 
particular god or goddess. 

Celebacy in the priesthood was discouragec 
Egypt. The number of children gathered about 
hearthstone was a matter for pride and thanks 
ing, the lack of such treasures always a cause jr 
sorrow and shame. 

Now these ladies-in-waiting (or if you will, maids- 
of-honor) to the Princess Hatsu, came from the 
forty-nine states of the kingdom, their homes were 
scattered from one end of Egypt to the other and 
their fathers were devoted to one of the various in* 
tellectual callings that have been mentioned. These 
girls represented many distinctive mental types, and 
as for religious belief, what one thought spiritually 
in Egypt was a matter of individual choice, and it 
is not at all improbable that the forty-nine high 
priests (represented in the Princess’ household by 
their daughters) served forty-nine distinctive ideals 
of Deity and were in their theological views as dia-* 
metrically opposed as are the various sects and 
schisms of our day. 

8 


H atsu 


Then as regarded the manner and speech of these 
girls one could tell by their pronunciation whether 
they came from Mazor — lower Egypt — or Pathos 
— u ner Egypt; but there was a sameness about 
the ; appearance; they all had round voluptuous 
hgi es, small, well-shaped noses, long gray eyes, full 
red lips, and smooth hair, which — to meet a prevail- 
ing f ishion — was dyed a dark blue. 

_Iiji>ad been the pleasure of Tothmes the First 
to ^ve to his daughter only that which should charm 
her eye, and please her senses, so the maidens that 
the Xing had selected to bear the Princess com- 
pany were endowed with beauty, wit, and all 
womanly graces and accomplishments; yet for them 
one and all Hatsu felt but a kindly friendship; her 
heart’s love she gave to Miriam, her maid — Miriam, 
daughter of Abram, the Israelite, Abram the skilled 
architect, into whose hands the late King had given 
the planning and construction of the third pyramid. 

Had Miriam been a free woman, this fondness 
of the Princess for her might have caused a feeling 
of envy in the breasts of the ladies-in-waiting; but 
what did it signify — how Hatsu treated the girl who 
plaited her hair? Miriam was a slave! * * * 

It was a long and a silent service, that the ladies-in- 
waiting had kept this night, but at last the Princess 
lifted her face from her hands and turned toward 
her attendants. 


9 


Hatsu 


44 I fear,” she said, “ that I am but a poor com- 
panion, and I will not weary you with longer wait- 
ing. The night is young, the gardens below are 
beautiful in the moonlight, go and enjoy them for 
the last time.” 

Then the girls arose, and stepping backwards, 
curtseyed themselves out of the apartment, the last 
one closing the door softly behind her. When the 
sound of their footsteps had died away the Princess 
spoke. 

“ Come, my Miriam,” she said, “ and take this 
seat beside me, wind your arm about my waist, and 
I will lay my head against your breast, and we will 
talk to one another. I have been looking at the 
Sphinx down yonder. For untold generations she 
has been asking her unsolvable riddle, 4 Whence are 
we? whither do we go? ’ Night after night I have 
sat here and made inarticulate cry to the beautiful 
raised head, gazing with expectant eyes toward the 
west, until at last she seemed to say to my soul, 

4 Sister woman, there is no god , but fate, and time — 
the present time — is always his prophet.’ 

44 If this be so, what need of losing breath in 
prayer? what need of so-called conscience, tell me, 
Miriam, may I not without fear of the wrath of an 
avenging God, break the vow I made to my father 
the King? and with your aid (and another’s) escape 

io 


Hatsu 


from out the city to-night and so save myself from 
the living death that awaits me in Thebes? ” 

“Hatsu, beloved,” said Miriam gently (for so 
it was the will of the Princess that she should be ad- 
dressed by Miriam when alone) “ the great stone 
image on the plain is naught but the work of man! 
It has no life, save in the superstitious fancy of a 
priest-ridden nation ! Hatsu, there is above, about, 
and around us, an eternal force, and it created that 
which we call humanity. We of Israel call this 
force ‘God ’ — the ‘All Father ’ — and ' Jehovah / 
and though our bondage under Egypt’s yoke seems 
to human understanding intolerable, we feel spirit- 
ually that we are the children of this King of Kings 
and Lord of Lords. We understand that when His 
wise purpose is fulfilled, we shall bless this provi- 
dence, of chains, and scourgings, and burdens, as a 
lesson of love, and mercy, making us the more 
worthy of our inheritance in the promised land.” 

The Princess raised her head and listened in 
silence until Miriam had ceased to speak. 11 Your 
words are pretty,” she said with a sigh, “ they 
soothe one like the crooning of a lullabye, and be- 
lieving it, as you do, must be to you a great consola- 
tion, but to me, dear Miriam, it is all delusion, and 
emptiness! I have read much of theology, and have 
longed to cultivate faith, but to me all forms of re- 
ligion seem phantom things, elusive, and delusive; 


ii 


H atsu 


they are assertions of Deity, founded upon legends, 
and then reared, by unreasoning superstition, 
through countless generations of men ! do not shake 
your pretty head, Miriam, for I know whereof I 
speak, and I this day have cast my praying beads 
aside as worthless toys ! while all my thoughts, 
hopes, and fears, are gathered about the awful fact 
of that near-at-hand wedding day. The time has 
come when, if I am to keep the pledge made to my 
dying father, I must lay aside these garments of 
sorrow, and don the bridal robe and crown. To- 
morrow we leave the blessed quiet of this place to 
journey back to Thebes, and there I shall wed that 
grewsome creature that reigns in my father’s place! 
Small comfort do I take in the knowledge that my 
witless brother has been new calendared among 
Egypt’s saints! So do they make gods of many 
noxious beasts and vipers ! Tell me, Miriam, could 
any merciful force, anything with even finest human 
intelligence doom a maiden to link herself with 
yonder living, breathing mass of nothingness? My 
husband, that is to be, clings to the toys of his earli- 
est childhood, merrily jingles his rattle and bells, and 
is soothed to sleep by the crooning of nursery rhyme ! 
Tothmes the Second a saint! Tothmes the Second 
a King ! There is no God ! There is no unseen 
power! We are creatures of the dust, ruled by 
creed and greed! See, Miriam, no fire from the 


12 


H atsu 


Heaven you prate of consumes me for this uttered 
sacrilege ! My heart beats on ! My breath comes 
and goes, as I look up to the star-spangled sky and 
speak my mind! But, O Miriam, Miriam, is there 
nothing that can save me?” The Princess had 
arisen, in her agony, and she now flung herself upon 
the ground, burying her face in Miriam’s lap. 

For a moment there was silence, and then Miriam 
spoke. 

“ Hatsu, beloved,” she said, “ the path marked 
out for you to tread seems a dark and thorny one. 
I would that I could scatter rose leaves upon it or 
lift its gloom, but I can only read from one life 
guide, and in all its pages I see the word “ obedi- 
ence.” Our God hath said, ‘ Honor thy father and 
thy mother that thy days may be long in the land,’ 
therefore, dear and honored mistress, cease to 
struggle against that which you have vowed beside 
your father’s dying bed to perform, and, in the midst 
of your present despair let this thought comfort you, 
our sojourn on this planet, that men call the Earth, 
is but for a moment of time; this will lead you to 
believe that in some better sphere, you will look back 
to see that yesterday's sorrows were but mists and 
nothing more. Think not of yourself, dear lady, 
but of your land, of Egypt. She has need of you 
upon her throne. Your people love and trust you. 
Can you then subject them to a rule so terrible as 

13 


H atsu 


would surely befall should the mother of Tothmes 
the Second have power to guide the State? Live 
for your people, Hatsu, and leave your present and 
your future in the hands of the One God; call Him 
if you will Osirus, for any name we call (if we call 
with reverent spirit) the Supreme Ruler will answer 
to.” 

The Princess raised her head and looked into 
Miriam’s eyes. 

“ Dear Miriam,” she said, “ I have no faith to 
offer to Deity; have I not prayed and fasted through 
these days of mourning? and has help come? No, 
but rather with each new hour I have felt the meshes 
of the net more tightly drawn about me! And al- 
ways night and day I see this picture. A girl stands 
before me. She wears upon her head a heavy golden 
crown. Its frontlet is an Eagle — the emblem of 
power, strength, and freedom; the Eagle’s wings are 
wide spread; the bird glitters with gems — oh, how 
they shine ! — but they are above eyes that fain would 
weep, yet dare not; they are above a heart that 
must not break! The girl’s garment is of cloth of 
gold, and her long braids are entwined with pearls; 
her sandaled feet glimmer like frost in the sunshine; 
on her arms, about her throat, and in her ears, dia- 
monds glisten, and as she stands upon a carpet of 
freshly gathered flowers, she is a priceless gift to 
the King, her husband that is to be; but under this 


14 


H atsu 


mask of silk, and gold, and gem, I see a degraded 
womanhood! the girl is spiritually bound by some- 
thing stronger than captive chains; oh, Miriam,” 
she cried, springing to her feet, “ There are no Gods! 
there is no one God ! Nay ! do not speak, but listen ! 
I have from babyhood served the Gods of my 
people! I have with my own hands fed the sacred 
beasts and birds in the Temple. I have dedicated 
every heliotrope in all the palace gardens to Osirus, 
and what is my reward? I am to be mated to de- 
formity of mind and body! A deformity that so 
disgraces the name of man that his coming shadow 
makes the bravest shudder ! His touch is like 
leprosy! His caresses will be Hell. Oh, that the 
God you worship would hear my cry for escape! 
Pray to Him, Miriam, and may-hap, through your 
faith, in this eleventh hour, there will be found a 
city of refuge for me.” 

Even as the Princess spoke these words, there 
came a strong tap upon the door, and in an instant 
she had resumed her seat, and Miriam her place, 
behind her mistress’ chair. 

Then, at the bidding of Hatsu, the door swung 
back, and two by two, there entered a company of 
youths, each bearing golden lamps. 

Following the youths came a man, holding a 
golden salver, on which lay a small parchment scroll. 
Bowing low (not kneeling), he presented it to the 

15 


H atsu 


Princess, who received it and read aloud the con- 
tents, in a clear, quiet voice. 

“ Hatsu, Daughter of our Departed Lord, and 
King. All Hail! It is the will of the Sovereign 
Ruler of the Universe, Osirus, King of Kings and 
Lord of Lords, that thou (accompanied by thine 
Israelitish handmaiden, Miriam) follow Alric, the 
bearer of this scroll, without question, through the 
Palace of Tears, even down into the subterranean 
grotto, known to the faithful of Mizram as the laby- 
rinth of Death. At a certain place by the way, at 
Alrick’s bidding, leave the handmaiden, and the cap- 
tain of the King’s guards, and take thy way alone, 
even unto the doorway that opens into the Temple of 
Osirus in the city of Abydos. Come thither, oh 
daughter of a great King, wife to be of our sainted 
Monarch, and on thy lonely way give thy soul into 
Osirus’ care and keeping. This, O Princess, is the 
will of Zelas the High Priest.” 

When the last word had been read the Princess 
raised the scroll to her lips, then tying it with the 
red silken cord, she put it into the bosom of her 
gown. Raising her gray eyes and looking for the 
first time at the captain of the King’s guard, she 
said, slowly and distinctly: 

“ Lead the way, and Miriam and Hatsu will fol- 
low thee.” 


1 6 


Hatsu 


CHAPTER III. 

Miriam stood watching in silence the form of her 
mistress the Princess Hatsu until she had disappeared 
from sight in a curve of the avenue, or path, then she 
sat herself down upon a stone bench, and with closed 
eyes and folded hands sents prayers — like white- 
winged angels — to keep the Princess company. 

So earnest was her thought that she had quite 
forgotten the companionship of the captain of the 
King’s guard, until the sound of his voice called her 
back to her immediate surroundings. 

“ She is indeed brave of heart is the Princess,” 
said the captain, a ring of enthusiasm sounding 
through his words. “ There are not many women, 
old or young, that would start on this journey with 
no consciousness of fear, for, setting all thought of 
superstition aside, it is a grew some place . There is 
not, I assure you, a foot of the entire way from 
here to the Temple, that does not afford sepulchre 
to some lifeless object, once an animated 1 1 am ,’ now 
a hideous semblance, an ugly jest upon being.” 

Miriam lifted her great blue eyes to the speaker’s 
face as she said: 

“ Whatever else you may be, my lord, you are 
-not a worshipper of Osirus, for all his faithful ones 


17 


H atsu 


know that nothing is so sacred in his sight as are 
these embalmed birds, beasts and reptiles.” 

The man smiled and shrugged his shoulders; he 
did not seem to consider that any explanation of his 
recent sacrilege was necessary to an Israelitish slave. 
This captain of the King’s guard was probably well 
past his thirtieth year, and unlike the majority of 
Egyptian manhood, he was of athletic proportions; 
he wore upon his feet and legs, sandals and leggins 
of scarlet leather. The leggins were cut into num- 
berless thongs or strips, and each one was fastened 
in place by a gold and jeweled buckle. His tunic, 
or loosely flowing frock, was of white linen exquis- 
itely embroidered with colored flosses, to represent 
leaves and blossoms; at his shoulders the tunic was 
gathered up with broad clasps of diamonds. About 
his throat was a collar of diamonds, with pendant 
strings, that fell, like threads of shimmering light, 
to his broad breast. His arms were bare, save for 
the jeweled bracelets or coils that serpent-like twined 
from wrist to armpit and looked like part of a coat 
of mail. His hair was worn in short curly waves 
about his forehead and the sides of his fair smoothly 
shaven face, then, its curly brown profusion, fell 
from the back, far below his waist. Full well 
Miriam knew this handsome gallant captain of the 
King’s guards, and heretofore (for reasons best 
known to herself) she had held him in honor as 

18 


H atsu 


one who was her mistress’ trusted and loyal servant; 
but to-day, in her loving anxiety for the Princess, the 
thought came to her that it would be best to guard 
her speech, for how (she reasoned) could she tell 
but that the Queen Regent, the mother of King 
Tothmes the Second, might not have sent the Cap- 
tain to spy upon her mistress? Miriam was a wise 
maiden, she had been taught life’s lessons in the 
school of adversity and she had come to know* 
through bitter experience, that he who listens has 
less to fear than he who talks. So she said gently: 

“ My lord, it is not courteous to be mirthful or 
scornful over that which the King you serve holds 
so sacred,” and she pointed to the niched wall where, 
in gaudily painted wooden cases, the faces of cats, 
birds, and other creatures of the animal kingdom, 
grinning of jaw and glassy of eye, looked down 
upon them. 

“ Perhaps,” replied the captain, “ if you, my 
pretty Miriam, had been selected to go from one 
end of the kingdom to the other to act as escort to 
dead cats, and dogs, oxen, and birds, and so bring 
them to this their final resting place, perhaps, I say, 
if you had been selected and then detailed to instruct 
the natives as to the salting and other disgusting 
mortuary preparations, you would have come in 
time to regard these things as I do, as only powerful 
through their offensiveness to one’s nostrils! as only 


19 


Hatsu 


capable of working harm, when as decaying animal 
matter they are allowed to pollute the otherwise pure 
atmosphere.” 

“ I do not understand how you dare to say all this 
to me, my lord,” said Miriam, “ for unbelievers 
though we be, you, a Syrian, I an Israelite, we are 
now in the most sacred sepulchre of Osirus. We 
both know what the speaking ill of a living sacred 
animal may cost. We know what the wilful killing 
of any of these forms of life means for him who 
does the deed. How often have you and I, sud- 
denly coming by the way upon some dead thing, 
fallen upon our knees and plucked from out our 
heads a few hairs to propitiate the anger of Deity? ” 

“ My charming Israelite,” said the captain draw- 
ing a trifle nearer, “ as you know full well, I have 
been reared from youth up in the household of 
Zelas the High Priest of Osirus. Let me confide to 
you that I, Alric, look into this great man’s face 
as fearlessly as does the babe upon its mother ! Aye, 
oftentimes I sit smiling in my content, while close 
at hand the awful voice of Zelas is heard, hurling 
anathemas upon the unfaithful as generously as a 
rose tree sheds its leaves when a breeze woos too 
roughly. This being so, do you fancy that these 
dried, glassy-eyed puppets mean anything to me but 
what they are? Then, as to my speaking openly to 
you, pray, who is there to hear my words? The folk 


20 


Hatsu 


in yonder palace would far rather accept an invita- 
tion to Troths kingdom than set so much as one 
foot upon this subterranean path. As for the priests, 
they hold the place in such superstitious horror that 
when they are forced to come thither they appear 
in great companies, singing at the top of their voices 
(which, of course, would give one an intimation of 
their proximity long before they themselves could 
appear) . And now let me tell you a bit of pleasant 
news. The Princess Hatsu, through, and by this 
pilgrimage of hers, is going to inspire in her people 
an awesome reverence that shall exalt her to a god- 
desship far beyond that bestowed upon the idiot, her 
husband (that is to be), aye, even as I speak, by 
the command of Zelas, the news of this journey of 
the Princess (our future Queen) is being shouted 
through the land by mounted heralds, and every- 
where prayers are offered for the preservation of the 
body and soul of this brave girl, that she may come 
through the awful, supernatural test, unconsumed; 
for you must know that it is usually believed that 
this cool and sequestered labyrinth is torrid in its 
temperature and holds many, if not all, the terrors 
and tortures, that meet and greet the human soul 
when a life on earth is past.” 

“ But, my lord, what will all this avail? The 
mother of our new King holds the controlling power 
in the councils of state, and well you know, she has 


21 


Hatsu 

for our late King’s daughter a bitter and relentless 
hate.” 

My lord Alric studied the smoothly worn stone 
path under foot, pushing w T ith the toe of his sandal 
some imaginary straw aside, ere he made answer. 

“ Our Sainted King’s most noble and gracious 
mother hath become (so saith the all-wise High 
Priest Zelas) too sacred a thing to be put in daily 
and hourly contact with the naughty world. Be it 
known to you, O Miriam, that the mother of 
Tothmes the Second will hereafter be powerless to 
do aught but pray, since she has this day been re- 
ceived into the cloistered nunnery of the Sisterhood 
of Perpetual Silence.” 

“ To our One God, Jehovah, I offer my thanks,” 
said Miriam fervently, “ but, my lord, do you not 
fear to speak thus openly to me, for it must surely 
be known to you that from my mistress I will keep 
no word? ” 

“ For that matter,” answered Alric lightly, “ you 
and I have but one life purpose. I, too, keep noth- 
ing concealed from the Princess Hatsu. Listen, I 
will unfold to you now more serious matters. I, 
Alric, hold the peace, the happiness, the life of the 
Princess Hatsu in my power, and for my service the 
price I ask shall be one gift — I want Miriam, the 
daughter of Ahram to wife.” 

With a cry, Miriam rose to her feet and stood 


22 


H atsu 


before Alric, moved (she did not question why) 
by an anger quite unknown to her in any hour of her 
past life. 

“Spy! Coward!!” she said, her pink cheeks 
flamed to a deep red, her eyes blazed with scorn, 
and her splendid figure seemed as fixed as a graven 
image. “ You shall find that for all your cunning 
there will open for you no vulnerable place in the 
armor of my loyalty to my mistress ! Aye, all your 
brutal showing of your freeman’s power over my 
bondage and my woman’s weakness cannot reach my 
soul ! I, Miriam, defy you to gain from me in the 
future one word I do not choose to speak. Let the 
Princess make a free gift of her bondwoman! to 
you! and I must submit to the inevitable, but mark 
me, no word that the Princess ever has said, or will 
say, shall come to you through me ! and every word 
that you have said or will say shall be whispered into 
her ear. My Lord Alric, in my young childhood 
the late King took me from among mine own people 
to be the companion of his daughter. He gave to 
my father a place of honor and trust among the 
builders, and the Princess has cherished me with 
sisterly tenderness. If you will that I die for it 
here at your feet, still I swear not to become your 
tool, even though I be your slave, aye, to my God I 
swear it! ” 

The Captain had moved a pace or two back from 
23 


Hatsu 


Miriam as she spoke, and as he listened to her every 
word he put one of his hands into the folds of his 
toga and drew from thence a small disk of glass. 
He never took his eyes from Miriam’s eyes; his 
gaze was fixed, and intense, and as she had gone on 
with her speech, it was perceptible that all uncon- 
sciously a subtle power was weaving itself about her. 
A sense, not of faintness, but rather of pleasant 
numbness stole slowly and softly over Miriam, mind 
and nerves, and a sweet peace that stayed the angry 
torrent of her blood, and brought a smile to her 
lips came, when she heard (as in a dream) these 
words. 

“ By my shield and buckler, by my good sword, 
I swear to you, that I am loyal to the Princess 
Hatsu.” 

A change was passing over the girl’s face. She 
still stood before him, erect, and calm, but expres- 
sion was fading out. The look that the dead wear 
was with her. Her color had fled, giving place to 
ashen wanness, and the light in her beautiful eyes 
was dimmed. Her mouth grew set, her nostrils 
pinched, and her breathing came in great waves of 
effort. Alrick now raised his other hand and moved 
it to and fro above the girl’s head, to a sort of 
measured time, repeating slowly, crooningly, and 
softly : 


24 


Hatsu 


“ Go to sleep ! 

G-o t-o s-l-e-e-p. 

G — o t — o s — 1 — e — e — p.” 

Then he lowered the hand above her, gently pushed 
her back onto the stone bench from which she had 
risen, and rested her rigid head against the wall. 

Then it was that her sob-like breathing ceased 
and, save that her eyes were widely open and staring, 
one would have said that Miriam had found her 
way into slumberland. 

Keeping the disk of glass before her eyes, Alric 
spoke : 

“ Spirit,” he said softly, “ spirit, what dost thou 
here?” 

And from the white lips came the answer: 

“ I wait to do thy bidding, my Lord.” 


25 


H atsu 


CHAPTER IV. 

“ Spirit,” he said, “ give me the name of thy 
master.” 

“ My earthly master,” she made answer, “ is 
one Alric, the grandson of Emil, who was called 
the wise man of Damascus.” 

“It is well, oh spirit. And although now, thou 
dost abide in a clay tenement, that the humanity 
of this generation, name Miriam, the Israelitish 
maiden, I know full well that thou, the soul, the 
life principal, can in memory go so far back, through 
eons of time, that its mention would be meaningless 
to the world of to-day; yet, because thou hast re- 
sponded to my power, I know, oh spirit, that we 
have met before, that we came close in love, or 
hate, and that in the evolution of law, and order, 
we have met again. Tell me of that time. Speak 
of our past, oh spirit, it is my will.” 

“ My name was Gweneth,” answered a voice (that 
was not Miriam’s voice at all). “In that fleshly 
captivity I abode far to the westward. My land 
was over many leagues of immeasureable water. 
The nation, powerful then, is forgotten; its people 
are dust; its cities buried in the bowels of the earth. 

“ You were my father’s favorite knight — and his 

2 6 


H atsu 


two daughters loved you; you were bold, and wooed 
them both in secret, and apart; but one that watched, 
made speed to tell the King ! And it was so grave 
a crime that naught but life, could be its expiation, 
and yet, you had said no word; had only looked into 
her eyes and mine. 

“ The day of doom came, and all were gathered 
to see the archer twang his bow, and mark how 
surely the sharp arrow should find your heart.; but 
they who watched, saw a stranger sight. Behold! 
one arrow did set free three souls. 

“ The winds of destiny parted us asunder; and 
through a dreary, dreary length of time, have I 
wandered. A myriad times have I been born, and 
lived, and died, and never in this infinite migration 
once beheld the soul I sought, until in Egypt’s land, 
a slave, a bondmaid, I serve my sister now the 
Princess Hatsu. I kneel, to do the bidding of my 
father’s knight who is called Alric now.” 

“ It is well, sweet Gweneth, we are met again. 
Now tell me all thou dost know concerning the life 
of Hatsu the Egyptian Princess?” 

“ Alas, beloved, thou canst gain no secret knowl- 
edge concerning the Princess Hatsu from me, for 
the God to whom Miriam, the Israelitish maiden, 
prays is mightier than all the gods of Egypt. All 
thought, beloved, is of the soul, and I, Gweneth, 

27 


H atsu 


dare not approach to read what is written in the 
mind of this Heaven-guarded maid, Miriam.” 

An exclamation of irritation escaped from Alric’s 
lips; and in that moment Miriam stirred, as one 
does who is about to awake; but he hastily made 
some passes above her head with his hand, and once 
more acknowledging his hypnotic power, she grew 
still. 

“ Come, sweet Gweneth,” he said gently, “ time 
flies and thou must follow 7 Hatsu on her way. Tell 
me what thou seest ? ” 

Miriam raised her head, and lifted her arm, plac- 
ing her hand above her eyes, as one does who peers 
into the distance. 

“ She is wending her way along a road,” she 
said, “ a narrow road, walled in and lighted by 
lamps, enclosed in globes of dull red glass, thus 
giving, if it were possible, a more grewsome effect 
to the creatures sepulchered there; but Hatsu has 
no dread, she has been used to count these things 
when living, as her friends, so she does not fear 
them dead! Neither does Hatsu’s heart tremble, at 
the thought of meeting the great High Priest, 
although she knows that no woman has ever before 
beheld his face. Although she knows that when 
he ministers to the people, it is always behind the 
Temple’s silken veil.” 


28 


Hatsu 

“ It is truth that thou speaketh, fair spirit, so lead 
on.” 

“ She is pausing,” said Miriam, “ for there has 
come to her ears the sound of voices. They the 
voices of a great company of priests, and they, are 
repeating in low, even tones the prayers for the 
dead. She has prostrated herself upon the earth, 
and the priests forming in two lines, walk past her, 
swinging their golden censers right and left, and I 
can hear the voice of the Princess, joining in the 
petition, for the soul of her father — still on its jour- 
ney to the kingdom that lies beyond the tomb. Now 
the sound of the singing grows fainter, the silence 
comes again, and Hatsu rises and goes on her way. 
She has reached a flight of broad stone steps. She 
is weary and the steps are many, but she presses 
on. She has reached the great door. She timidly 
touches it with her finger tips, but it swings noise- 
lessly open, and she enters and finds herself within 
the temple.” 

“ Tell me of this temple.” 

“ It is a great hall, lofty and spacious, and it 
shines from floor to dome, with gold and silver and 
jewels. Panels of delicate yellow amber, give a 
satin-like touch of softness to the cold stone. The 
recesses that hold the cages of the sacred birds and 
beasts, are veiled by curtains of heavily embroidered 
silken stuffs, and all this splendor is added to by the 


29 


H atsu 


brilliant lights that are set into the walls. Through 
the centre of the temple, and at intervals along its 
sides, are massive pillars of yellow and rose colored 
sand-stone. Beyond is the great altar, brilliant with 
lights, heavy with the fragrance of burning incense 
and of the sacred blossoms. 

“ No human thing is in sight. The tame beasts 
and birds are wandering about the temple. They 
have noted the Princess’s entrance, and are hastening 
to surround her. 

“ Thus accompanied she is nearing the altar. 

“ The heavy silken curtains are parting, and from 
between them there comes, not a man ! but a god ! 
the Sun God! in man’s stature! He is exceeding 
tall and lithe and sinewy. He is in the zenith of 
manhood, neither young nor old. 

“ His flesh is firm and white and colorless. His 
eyes are large and bright, and deeply blue, and his 
hair is as yellow as the sunbeam, and it falls in waves 
of glory about his shoulders. 

His robe of blue and gold, is sprinkled with 
jewels as the dew sprinkles the green sward in the 
early morning time. He speaks, and his voice is 
like the tenderest note of music. 

“ ‘ Hatsu,’ he says; ‘ Hatsu.’ And the birds at 
the sound of his voice fly to him, and nestle against 
him, as children nestle close to a mother. 

Hatsu,’ he says, ‘ daughter of Tothmes the 


30 


Hatsu 


First, draw near without fear, and mount the steps 
of the altar, and pass under the folds of the divine 
wings, into the sanctuary — the Holy of the Holies — 
and be thou not consumed.’ With a cry Miriam rose 
and stretched out her arms. 

“ ‘ God of my fathers,’ she wailed. ‘Save her! 
save Hatsu ! Let no vengeance from any heathen 
god fall upon her, because in the madness of her 
grief, she has said defiant words ! Stay their power, 
oh God, to turn Egypt’s hope into the semblance 
of some defiled beast or bird. 

“ She will not ask mercy from them, my strong, 
proud Princess! She knows not what fear may 
mean ! Her eyes are calm, her lips are parted in 
a quiet smile; no fate can daunt her! 

“ As I speak, lo ! following the Sun God, she 
has passed through the folds ! she stands on the 
other side of the curtain. It is a bare, plain room. 
In the centre of the apartment is set a rude table 
and a few chairs. The man with the golden hair 
speaks. 

“ ‘ Princess,’ he says, ‘ I have bidden that you 
come thither, that I may speak in your ear, concern- 
ing that, which can no longer be cherished by me 
alone. I am, Princess, Zelas, the High Priest of 
Osirus. 

“ ‘ I am, at your father’s behest, left to guide, 


31 


H atsu 


and to guard you, I am left with the power to place 
you on the throne of Egypt, a virgin queen. 

“ ‘ Full well our late King knew, that his people 
could not be ruled over by his eldest son (his sister’s 
child) who has not so much wisdom as yonder 
gibbering ape, and Ashel, Tothmes the Second’s 
mother, the King had discovered to be a creature 
of mean cunning, and low covetuousness, and he saw 
in your second brother, an artful and ambitious 
plotter. Listen, oh Princess, while I rehearse to 
you the earth story of Tothmes the First. He was 
a born King, a statesman, and a diplomat, from the 
earliest day of his reign, Egypt was his constant and 
absorbing thought, Her power, Her glory, Her 
advancement, his waking theme. 

“ 4 He revolutionized the army, added ships to 
the depleted squadrons on the sea, enlarged and 
beautified the temple of Ammon, and built the pyra- 
mid of Cheops — thus enabling the Scientists of his 
day, to bring to a completion, much that had never 
before been deemed possible of demonstration, in 
electricity, astronomy, and mathematics. 

44 4 It was at his bidding, that Egypt, after ten 
centuries of isolation, flung wide her gates, and 
welcomed to the marts of trade, the commerce of the 
outer world. 

44 4 He encouraged his people to export all their 
various manufactured and agricultural products, 

32 


Hatsu 


urging upon them the wisdom of learning from other 
nations, all that was best and most progressive in 
the arts and sciences. 

u ‘ Thus it came to pass, that the King took small 
heed to his personal surroundings. 

“ ‘ Forced to marry — for state reasons — his own 
sister, a woman of repulsive appearance, and unlov- 
able character, the domestic ties weighed lightly upon 
him. 

“ 1 Being a scientist, he felt no surprise at the 
issue of this marriage. 

“ ‘ He knew that if the mating of near kin, is not 
thought wise for the horse, and hound, it must per- 
force prove disastrous, in humankind. 

“ 11 The other son — a concubine’s child — was 
brought into the world in accordance with the wishes 
of his ministers of state, who trembled at the thought 
of the idiot prince being sole heir to the kingdom. 

“ ‘ Thus matters stood, until one day when weary 
of the affairs of camp, and court, the King disguised 
his royalty, and wandered incognito through the city 
of Thebes, and he came at last to the quarter of the 
market place, set aside for the slave traders and their 
human merchandise. 

“ ‘ It was a scene that stirred the great heart with 

p i ty ! ^ 

“ * The long, low building formed a square of 
considerable size, and after mounting a pair of 


33 


Hatsu 


steps, the King found himself in a hall, around which 
ran a platform of wood, encompassing every side of 
the apartment. 

44 4 This platform was divided into pens, shut in 
by wooden railings, and in these pens were confined 
human beings who were exposed for sale. 

“ ‘ These men and women represented life from 
earliest infancy to infirm age. 

“ 4 In color they were from the blackest ebony to 
the whitest snowdrift. 

“ 4 Walking about were merchants, and buyers, 
loudly commenting upon the occupants of the cages. 

44 4 The black folk for sale, either stared out upon 
these buyers, and sellers, with a stolid indifference, 
or with closed eyes, seemed wrapt in total oblivion 
of their surroundings. 

4 4 4 The white men, either paced nervously up and 
down their limited enclosure, or sat looking out, with 
inquiring eyes, that spoke of a questioning mind. 

4 4 4 The white women huddled together in groups, 
with their arms entwined and their faces full of silent 
sadness. 

44 ‘One of the traders approached a cage within 
which the most highly priced group of the market 
were confined. 

44 4 He was followed by a portly, unctuous Egypt- 
ian, whose best years were behind him, and on 


34 


Hatsu 

whose bestial face was written the story of sensual 
indulgence. 

The merchant unlocked the door of this cage, 
and entering, selected from among the now pale 
and trembling group the particular slave that the 
fat Egyptian had indicated with his forefinger. 

u ‘ Roughly seizing her by the arm, the merchant 
forced her to stand up; then pushing her before him 
(with no gentle hand) he brought her out of the 
cage — which he carefully re-locked — and bade her 
“go to the purchaser.” 

“ 1 The fat Egyptian, surveyed the girl, from head 
to foot, to the accompaniment, of the merchant’s 
monotonous chanting, of her especial physical charms 
and at just the right time, in his oration, he placed one 
of his hands, on the back of the girl’s neck, and 
with the other he jerked her head to his shoulder, 
and pried open the beautiful mouth, calling upon the 
purchaser, to examine the whiteness, and the sound- 
ness of her teeth. 

“ ‘ He next pinched her neck, and her arms, to 
show the firm quality of the flesh. 

“ 4 As the trader drew aside the loose toga of 
linen, and displayed the small beautiful breast, the 
Egyptian who had before haggled and hesitated, 
began to draw out his purse and the girl looking up 
and seeing the other man — a man in whose eyes 


35 


Hatsu 


dwelt compassion for her helplessness— said softly 
the one word “Mercy.” 

“ ‘ Then a courage born of his sheltering pres- 
ence, came to her, and she removed the pin that 
held her golden hair and it fell like a mantle of 
light, all about her. 

“ ‘ The disguised monarch, impelled, by some 
strange force spoke: 

“ ‘ “ Stay thy hand oh buyer,” he said. “ Thy 
bargain, is not sealed. / bid for this slave a thousand 
more pieces of gold, and I will pay as much more 
for the little lad, from whose arms she was un- 
twined.” 

“ ‘ Whether or not, the Egyptian saw through the 
king’s disguise none can tell; but with many pro- 
found saalams, he expressed his willingness, to yield 
all claim, and making another appointment with the 
dealer, withdrew, leaving the king alone with the 
merchant. 

“ * “ Tell me,” said the King, “of this maiden’s 
past? Surely so fair a woman was not born for cap- 
tivity! ” 

“ ‘ “ No my lord,” answered the slave merchant, 
“ none of these of the white skin are born slaves. Our 
vessels with well-armed crews thread the distant seas 
and visit remote lands in search of human gems. 
Our men seek some sequestered spot along the coast, 
wherein they may hide the ship, then they divide 

36 


Hatsu 


themselves, into companies, and steal to the main 
land, and watch about the villages, and towns until 
the husbands and fathers go off to the chase, or to 
do battle; then they enter the unprotected settle- 
ments, and securing such among the women and the 
children as seem salable, make off with them. It 
is a pleasant trade, my lord, and profitable.” ’ ” 


37 


Hatsu 


CHAPTER V. 

“ ‘ That night the white slave slept upon the King 
of Egypt’s hreast and the boy (her brother) the 
king in his pleasure, made such provision for that he 
was safe and happy evermore.’ ” 

As Miriam repeated these last words, Alric bent 
close, and his eyes seemed to be striving, to find in her 
expression some thing that her words did not reveal 
to him. “ It was a spring song, this last love of 
Tothjnes the First,” went on Miriam, “ for the 
blossom he had gathered, could not bear the trans- 
planting, even though the garden was the home of 
a king, and so it came to pass that when her child 
was born, Grunheld, in a delirium of fever, that fol- 
lowed the hours of pain, talked in the language of a 
strange people, and one, who stood near — the great 
physician of the realm, a man versed in many tongues 
told the King, — that she spoke of an island home, 
over a great waste of waters, of breeze swept, rain 
washed hills, and then laying upon the alter, of some 
unknown God, chaplets of prayer, — the King’s love, 
passed out of Mizram, and was not. — That she should 
not, in her journey of three thousand years, be forced 
to abide in the bodies of bird, beast, or reptile, the 
King, had her fair form, made ready, for sacred em- 

38 


H atsu 


balmment, and while the work progressed, there was 
no pause for breath, so thick and fast came the 
prayers, that the long sleep might not be broken. 

“And when the body was wrapped, and the priest- 
ly office for the dead accomplished, they laid the 
young stranger, in a rock chamber, and for her com- 
fort, filled the room with all things needful, for a 
soul’s journey should she by chance (in spite of prayer 
and charm) awake. 

“ Then all that human love could do, being ac- 
complished, the King turned him to his motherless 
child, Hatsu. 

u Now from her earliest childhood, the Princess 
Hatsu was beloved by the people, for in her out- 
ward form, she bore no trace of her alien mother’s 
race; her skin was Egypt’s clear transparent olive, 
her eyes dark, and langourous, her hair long, smooth, 
and easily dyed to the royal color. 

“ But the soul of Hatsu, was the soul of her 
mother, not proud, and distant, was she, like Egypt’s 
royal women, but gentle, and kind to all men, rev- 
erent to the Gods, and obedient to those in authority. 

“ So it was not strange that she was beloved save 
by one, and that one the mother of her half brother 
the Idiot prince, now, King Tothmes the Second of 
Egypt. 

“ The Idiot prince was her devoted slave, follow- 
ing her about like a faithful dog, and only showing 

39 


Hatsu 

glimmerings of intelligence, when his sister addressed 
him. 

“The other brother, — the concubine’s son, — hon- 
ored her too — and though selfish and crafty by nature 
he seemed — and seems to this day — her true and 
faithful friend. 

“This Princess is the story of thy life, until 
this hour as it is written in the sacred chronicle of 
our most holy order.” 

As Zelas has thus spoken our Princess has drawn 
nearer, and nearer to his side. 

His quiet unmoved voice, has fallen like a bene- 
diction of peace upon her troubled heart. Hope is 
springing anew within her breast, and now that he 
has ceased, they are looking into each other’s eyes, 
she kneels at his feet. 

“ Holy father,” she says. “ I come to thee, in this 
my hour of need for council and guidance. Listen 
my lord ! Standing beside the form of my departing 
father, I took solemn oath to Osirus to wed Toth- 
mes the Second, to be Egypt’s Queen. 

“ My Lord, it is said, that the great Osirus, has 
given to you, the power to read the innermost 
thoughts of men. If this be true — small need, to 
tell you that the girl kneeling at your feet would joy- 
fully lay down her young life, and enter the body of 
the most degraded thing that walks or crawls. Aye 
that she would rather abide in any evil form, through 

40 


H atsu 


every hour of the next three thousand years! than 
endure one fleeting day, of such life as the coming 
Queenship implies. 

“ My lord, I will speak to you, that which I dare 
scarce breathe to my own soul. I know what it is to 
love. He, who is dearer to me than aught else in 
time, or endless eternity hath not a dream, that this 
is so ; but, love like mine, is satisfied with the giving, 
it asks no more, than just to love silently on, to live 
a lonely empty life made fragrant by purity, and sanc- 
tified by prayer. Let me, I pray thee, my Lord, be 
committed to some sisterhood. With thy mighty 
power save me from the awful doom that Queen- 
ship with my brother Tothmes means.” 

Miriam stops, she leans forward, and sways as 
though about to fall. “ I can see no more,” she 
says slowly, “ a mist has arisen, my eyes, can not 
pierce it. I pray thee, let me rest.” 

Alric, white to the lips, made with precision, a 
series of passes, before the fixed glassy eyes. His 
strong breast heaved, the muscles of his brawny arms 
stood out, and drops of sweat beaded his brow. With 
a deep sigh, the lips of the girl began to move, and 
she said : “ I see the lips of the high priest quiver, 

there are tears in his God-like eyes, and he has laid 
two trembling hands upon Hatsu’s head. 

‘“My sister’s child,’ he is saying, ‘gather my 


4i 


Hatsu 


words and garner them deep in your heart, for you 
alone I live, for you — if need be — I die.’ 

“ ‘To the Idiot you must plight a solemn troth; 
but listen, Tothmes the Second, has been taken from 
his mother’s side. Never will she speak word to 
him more, for ere this, by my command she has en- 
tered one of the nunneries, set apart for holy women, 
who night and day, for the enduring glory of Osirus, 
keep the lamps, filled with sacred oil, and tend the 
temple fires. Princess, thou shall make marriage 
vow to Tothmes; but he shall be safe kept, by one 
to whom I would trust my life , my all, a man who is 
honor’s self! Whose every thought is known to me, 
as mine to him, in the hands and under the guidance 
of Alric, captain of the King’s guards, I place the 
so-called King* yy 

A great sob broke from Alric’s throat, and he 
made a movement, as though to break the trance, but 
the action was so rapid as to almost be lost sight of 
in the look of intense resolve the look of indomitable 
will that took its place. 

“ ‘ If,’ went on Miriam, ‘ Tothmes the Sec- 
ond die, and Tothmes the -Third ascend the throne, 
thou shalt still, be queen, for over Tothmes the 
Third, does Alric hold an influence that is plastic 
as meal, and as strong as death. Aye, Hatsu^ while 
I live, and while Alric lives thou shalt reign in 
Egypt. Aye, I swear it ! ’ ” 


42 


Hatsu 


At the echo of his words, which are uttered in 
a voice loud and clear, there comes a clash of brazen 
instruments of music, and the ear catches the cries, 
and the moans, and the twitter, and the coos of the 
sacred beasts and birds in the great temple beyond. 

Now the temple door creaks on its hinges! and 
there comes, the slow muffled droning notes, of a 
myriad voices, men’s, and women’s, and the voices 
of youths and maidens. 

Hatsu has again risen to her feet, her eyes are 
bright, a red rose glows in each cheek, and the great 
Zelas has bent and kissed her upon her brow. 

He is calling the doves that have been fluttering 
about the apartment. They come at his bidding, 
and he places them upon Hatsu’s shoulders; and 
upon her outstretched arms. 

Into her hand he has put a great bunch of helio- 
trope, and now he sprinkles a strong elixir of catnip 
over the hem of the Princess’ gown, and upon her 
sandalled feet. 

“ Go,’ he says, “ and stand before the people.*” 
And opening the curtains a little way, he thrusts her 
forth ! and as the silken folds fall back, behind her, 
the people hear the voice ! that makes all men, high or 
low, rich, or poor, simple, or wise, tremble! the 
voice of the awful invisible High Priest Zelas, calling 
to them : 


43 


H atsu 


“ Behold your Queen! Hatsu, beloved of Osirus, 
dear to all the Gods, Hatsu, the Queen ! ” 

And there she stands, so young, so fair, so dove 
encircled! and all about her are fawning the sacred 
cats licking her sandalled feet, and the hem of her 
garment, and the people are crying out as with one 
voice : 

“ ALL HAIL TO OUR GODDESS, QUEEN 
HATSU!! ALL HAIL !! AMEN AND 
AMEN!!” 


44 


H atsu 


CHAPTER VI. 

As Miriam uttered the last words, Alric replaced 
the glass disk that he had been holding, in the bosom 
of his toga, he dropped his raised hands, and the 
Israelite closed her eyes, and her head fell upon her 
breast and she slept. 

Then Alric folded his arms and looked a_t the 
girl. 

“ I would,” he said softly, as to himself, “ that 
you could know r , sweet Miriam, that there is a some- 
thing within me, crying ‘ Shame, upon this power I 
wield;’ but the necessity is great, and fate has made 
you the medium by which I may gain my end. I 
have sought Egypt for a subject upon whom I might 
yield perfect illusory impression, an impression con- 
veyed by hypnotic suggestion to make me master of 
the actions, and spoken words of another, who is the 
next link in the human chain to this, my subject. 

“ Oh, that this occult science, were less feebly 
understood in my day! Oh, that I may be re-born 
into that to come in the world’s history, when this 
power shall be truly a subjective phenomena! a ser- 
vant of man! when it shall, in its three stages of 
lethargy, somnambulism, and catelepsy, be used for 
the good of mankind in the arts of medicine and 

45 


Hatsu 


surgery, to a time when the priest physician, who 
believes in cure through faith, the priest physician 
who believes in cure through the cast-off garments of 
saints, or the charms of philtre and prayer wheel, 
shall be swept away, with the chaff and the dross! 
A time when the priest physician shall be the scientist, 
who can understand the harmony of the unseen, and 
apply it to the daily and hourly life conditions, and 
needs. 

“ How far, — now having found my medium — 
shall I be able to use her? 

“ I must take this woman into my own life. If 
she were any other than the property of the Princess, 
my gold and influence could buy her, as it is I must 
ask her from Hatsu. Not in the marriage of a mas- 
ter to a concubine, but through all the sacred Egyp- 
tian rights of vow and ring. Yes, I shall wed you, 
Miriam, and you will love me, and in the fullness of 
time you will bear me a son. Aye, carry it under 
your heart, and bring it forth unconscious of your 
motherhood. For I will keep you in entrancement 
through those days and safe hid from all eyes save 
Hatsu’s and my own, and when the time has been ac- 
complished Hatsu shall take the child, and holding 
it before the people, proclaim it her son and heir! 

“ That Zelas is true to me, I now know, beyond all 
doubt. Zelas, Hatsu’s uncle! Of what sad com- 
minglings are we made ! my soul and heart are crying 

46 


Hatsu 


out in pity, and yet my mortal mind, my scholar’s 
questioning, urges me on ” 

But — he pauses — his quick ear detects a footstep 
— and looking up he sees coming slowly toward him 
the Princess. 

She walks with her lithe young body held erect, as 
though the generations of poising the urn upon the 
shoulder, had made a graceful carriage of the body, 
an Egyptian woman’s distinguishing characteristic. 

As she draws still nearer, Alric kneels, and with 
bowed head awaits her command, “ to rise.” 

“ Faithful Friend,” said the sweet low voice “ re- 
joice with me, my mission has prospered, on the 
morrow I go out of this city of sorrow, to meet, and 
to greet my sovereign lord, the King; my: husband, 
that is to be.” 

Alric took the hem of the Princess’ robe, and 
touched it to his lips. 

“ All hail sovereign Queen !” he said softly. 
“ Egypt’s sun by day, her moon by night.” 

It was merciful, that he could not see the look 
of hungry, wistful woman’s love, that she bent upon 
him, kneeling there; but he could hear, the quick 
fluttering breaths. He could see the jewelled hands, 
held tight against her beating heart. 

“ My queen,” he said, “ here among your sacred 
dead. I give my life, to your service.” 

He had risen and they were looking into each 


47 


Hatsu 


other’s faces; then, as if recalling, Miriam for the 
first time, the princess with anxious eyes sought her 
maid, and seeming in one glance, to realize what 
Alric had done, her pale face flushed, and her gray 
eyes showed angry light. 

“ How dare you trifle, with that which is most 
precious to me! ” she said. 

“ Quick undo the spell that binds her! Miriam! 
sister! Hatsu calls! Awake!” 

But Miriam slept on, and something in the un- 
broken silence of the man beside her, made Hatsu 
turn imploringly to him. 

“ Surely my lord,” she said. “You who know 
how dear Miriam is to me, can not hurt or wrong 
me through her! surely you know, that should this 
wanton act of yours, ever come to her, with the 
added knowledge, that I did not reprove you most 
severely, Miriam would turn from me, in scorn pre- 
ferring torture and death, to serving so false and 
thankless a mistress.” 

“ My Princess listen! No idle impulse has led to 
this unnatural slumber, in which you find Miriam, 
it has been induced, that I might gain the one chance, 
the only chance perhaps in our present life, to speak 
with you alone.” 

“ You are bold my lord! ” 

“ Aye but not so bold, as to do aught but prove 
to you my loyalty. ’Tis true it is but seldom, oh 

48 


H atsu 


gracious bride of Tothmes the Second, that a sub- 
ject forces upon the ear of his sovereign queen, his 
personal confidence and seeks the aid of the throne 
itself, to further his selfish aims, and ambitions! yet 
I Alric, venture into this untrodden path, and ask 
your interest, and may hap (since you have a gentle 
heart) your sympathy. Know then future queen, that 
at the court of Tothmes the Second — and very close 
to his throne — my soul lives, for it is there, the only 
woman I have ever loved, shall abide. 

“ She is by birth and station, so far above me, that 
to love her, is like loving a star in heaven ! but oh 
queen (that is to be) such love as mine knows no 
repining, because the object of its worship is beyond 
mortal possession ! love such as mine, finds only joy 
in the thought that eons of what we call time, may 
stretch out, before I can take unto myself this other 
self but while I wait I can serve. 

“ Listen! In and about the court of Tothmes the 
Second, lurk unnumbered dangers, for my love. All 
that I crave at the queen* s hands, is the power, to 
stand her sentinel, to guard her night, and day, day, 
and night, so long as my time on the earth continues.” 

He ceased to speak, and stood in respectful atti- 
tude, awaiting her reply. 

“ Love, that is faithful, pure, and true, is a gift 
from the Gods, my lord,” she said. “ And the wo- 
man that calls forth this affection (who e’er she 


49 


Hatsu 


be) should feel that nothing earth or heaven could 
give, could crown her with more honor or more glory , 
aye, for love like this she should gladly renounce all 
else; speak on my lord.” 

“ My princess, there is but one way, through, and 
by which, I may serve my love, there is but one way 
in which I can guard her, and it comes through a 
gift from you to me. On the day in which you wed 
yonder great, and sainted King, give me as wife not 
as slave, but as free woman Miriam ” 

With a cry the Princess, all unmindful of past, 
and future, with no thought of Queenship, or of sta- 
tion, flung her arms about the neck of the man, and 
nestled close to him so that her warm lips touched his 
brown throat. 

“ Not that ! ” she moaned, “ not that ! Ask from 
me any other woman high, or low, rich, or poor, 
bound, or free ! and she is yours but not Miriam! 

“ I have loved her, and she has loved me, and 
she knows my soul, she has read my most sacred 
thoughts. If,” (she cried looking up into his face) 
“ if I thought, that she had been false to me, if I 
thought, that she had dared to love you! if I thought 
that you loved her, I would kill her as she sleeps, 
and then thrust the wet blade, into my own heart.” 

He took the girl’s arms from about his neck, and 
laid her head upon his breast. He drew her close to 
him, and bent down and kissed her lips — he said words 

5 ° 


Hatsu 


to her that only complete possession justifies, and 
she answered with the silence of acceptance, the si- 
lence of unspoken gladness. How long they stood 
thus, locked in each others’ arms, they never knew, 
for time and place are not spiritual attributes, and 
they had been lifted above the finite. It was Miriam 
stirring in her sleep, that came to be the Angel with 
the Sword, to drive them out, of their Eden! and 
the woman, wrapped her naked heart, in a mantle 
of crimson blushes, and the man rudely thrust away 
the light frail form, and fled to Miriam’s side, and 
by a few passes kept back still — a little longer — her 
returning consciousness. 

Hatsu was the first to speak. 

“ My lord,” she said quietly, “ask your gift at 
my hands, and she shall be thine.” 


5 * 


H atsu 


CHAPTER VII. 

Miriam had begun to stir, she raised her head, 
opened her eyes, and rubbed them sleepily as a child 
does in the early morning; then, she looked up, and 
saw Alric standing beside her. 

“You were saying to me, my lord, ‘ I vow to be 
loyal to Hatsu;’ but, we were both standing!” she 
looked perplexed, then troubled; “ did I swoon, 
my lord? ” 

Alric laid one of his hands, with the freedom of a 
free man on the beautiful shoulder of the slave, with 
his other arm he drew her to him. With a mighty 
effort, she loosed herself from his hold, her face 
deadly pale, her nostrils distended. 

“ My lord ” she said slowly “ do not lay so much 
as the tip of your finger upon me !” 

“ As you will,” he said, shrugging his shoulders; 
“ but in answer to your question, Miriam, you did 
not swoon, but fell asleep here, alone with me ! it 
will not be the last time my pretty one, that this shall 
befall you, for I am to receive you as wife, from our 
princess on the day in w r hich she weds her brother 
the king.” 

Miriam said no word, she only looked at him as 
though she strove to read his soul. 


52 


H atsu 


“ My lord,” she said at last, “ the Princess will 
never grant this request, she knows full well that in 
all this land, none is so faithful as her Miriam; she 
knows that I have almost ceased to mourn the captiv- 
ity of my people, because she is so dear to my heart. 
My lord, I shall be no wife to you, I am a slave, and it 
ill becomes rqe to say nay to one so high in authority, 
but my lord it can not be because I — t — ” 

Alric had stepped close to her. “ I do not care 
for your why’s, and wherefores ” he said haughtily 
“ it is because you are so loyal, to the Princess, it is 
because I am bound body and soul to her service, 
that you must come to me. Thus only can the queen 
be sure to keep you beside her, enemies might, spirit 
away an Israelitish bond-woman; but who is there 
that would touch the free wife of Alric, the beloved 
and adopted son of Zelas, the great high priest. So 
there is nothing but your death, that can prevent this 
union of ours, and I scarcely think your aversion to 
me, can be so great, as for you to take that road to 
balk my wishes.” A ring of command sounded in 
his voice as he added “ Girl, I come of a race who, 
when they woo a maid, win her! a few days hence, 
with ring bell and pomgranate, will I wed you and in 
my city house, and on my estates amid the lake coun- 
try you will reign a free woman, when your duties 
upon the Princess permit of your absence from ser- 
vice upon Her Highness.” 


53 


Hatsu 


“ I am a slave,” answered Miriam, “ and it ill 
becomes me to say aught, to the man, that has power 
to take me out of bondage, and make me free. I do 
not lack in gratitude to you my lord, and for the 
Princess, I would gladly lay down my life, only I 
fancied I ” 

“ Again I bid you pause ” interrupted Alric; “ tell- 
ing one’s thoughts, is not often wise. Accept thou 
that which the Gods provide, Miriam; not troubling 
much. You are to be mine! and knowing this, be 
content; but, for your enduring comfort let me repeat, 
that this marriage of ours only cements your near- 
ness to the woman that you adore, — and who adores 
you — I am to be the constant companion of the King ; 
you of the Queen.” 

“The King!” again Miriam’s eyes searched his 
face “ then after all, it is to be, this dreadful wedding! 
that shall mate beauty to the beast ! ” 

For answer Alric pointed to the Princess, who now 
appeared at the turning of the road close at hand, 
and smiling hastened toward them. 

There were tears glittering in the soft dark eyes 
of Hatsu, as she drew Miriam to her breast and 
kissed her brow. 

“ My sister,” she said, “ those that rule the des- 
tinies of Egypt, have taken knowledge of Miriam the 
Israelite, and knowing that she is without spot or 
blemish, pure as the whitest flower, guileless as the 


54 


H atsu 


newborn child, they bid Miriam live in unquestion- 
ing submission, the life that is pointed out to her 
by Hatsu, and Alric; and in some future state where 
love and ambition mean the highest, and the best, 
then may Hatsu and Alric open wide their souls and 
lay the secret burden of motive and purpose at 
Miriam’s feet, and may she find it in her heart to 
forgive them, and love them still. 

“ I go dear Miriam, from hence, on the morrow, 
to meet and to wed my lord; and now the hour 
being late let us hasten back to the palace, that we 
may be ready for our journey. 


55 


Hatsu 


CHAPTER VIII. 

“ Some force, that is resistless, doth command 
me to on this night, take pen and papyrus page, and 
write upon it, much that fills my mind. I seem im- 
pelled to speak words concerning the lives of those 
among whom destiny has placed me. Keen as my 
memory is to-day, time will dull it, and thereby cause 
me to lose my hold upon some of the threads, that 
are useful to me, in solving the enigma of men, and 
the motives that govern them. 

“ I am possessed of a series of hieroglyphics, whose 
meaning is known but to a few wise men in the civil- 
ized world; so I may safely speak upon this page, 
and first I choose to describe myself. 

“ I was born — a posthumous child — in the house of 
my paternal grandsire, he was one of the most 
learned of Syria’s priesthood; a man who had lived 
so much, and so long in an atmosphere of spiritual 
conditions, that he scarcely seemed of earth. 

“ His food consisted of a few herbs, and roots, 
he drank naught save water, which he bent down to 
receive with his lips from the spring itself. 

“Of my father I know little; my mother was a 
gentle inoffensive soul; one of those negative crea- 

56 


H atsu 


tions, that pass through a state of being, making it 
neither better nor worse for the impress. 

“ I was born in the spring time, and at the even- 
ing hour — when twilight goes to meet the night. 

“ A strange phenomenon was taking place ! Upon 
our land of mildest and balmiest clime had come a 
bitter cold, and a white frozen rain poured from the 
sky and covered the ground. 

“ Scarce had I uttered my first wail, than the mid- 
wife heard close beside me, the warbling of an un- 
seen bird, and all about me (while it continued to 
sing) there was a nimbus of light, bright and star 
like. 

“ This condition, or occurrence, was repeated for 
several days at the same hour, and for the same space 
of time, and my grandsire who was present, after 
the first demonstration, prophesied that I should be 
able to control to my will, the destinies of all with 
whom I came in contact, so long as mind, governed 
my decisions, and not sentiment; he said that my 
danger would lay in the power that two women 
should possess over me. 

“ When I had arrived at an age to permit of in- 
struction, my grandsire carried me away from the city 
and we abode many days in the desert. 

“ So keen was my sense of the occult, that it took 
but little space of time, for me to grasp, all that he 
had to teach, and when I questioned why it was, that 


57 


H atsu 


what had taken him seventy years to acquire, came 
to me in as many days, he made answer in these 
words : 

“ ‘ Know oh Alric — beloved of my soul — that thy 
form alone is mortal, all thy senses are quickened by 
the spirit. Love and hate, joy, and sorrow, shall not 
touch thee. All this, did I knew before I saw thy 
face, while still thy mother cherished thee beneath 
her heart.’ 

“ Then my grandsire told me he had been warned 
in a dream, that he was soon to be called to lay 
aside the garment of the flesh, for a robe of light — 
that he was to proceed to a higher circle of doing, 
and being, and, it had been given him to prophesy to 
me, that Tothmes the First the great King of Egypt, 
would shortly arrive in Syria, that he should be 
drawn to me by chords of love, and fatherly affec- 
tion, that he should ask me, of the King, and of my 
grandsire, promising I should be reared as his own 
son, and even taking his kingly oath, that upon my 
arrival at manhood’s time, I should, under the order 
of the great high Priest Zelas, be invested with 
power as an officer in the King of Egypt’s army. 

“ And even so it came to be. I Alric lived beside 
the good King, and sat at the feet of Zelas, the high 
Priest, and learned of him. He, — Zelas — taught me 
priestly law, and I in return taught him to love me 
as a son. 


58 


Hatsu 


“ The two princes, the Idiot (who is King to-day) 
and the scholar (who shall be King in some to-mor- 
row) I hold in my thrall! and Hatsu what shall I 
say of the Princess? Is she one of the women, of 
whom my grandsire spoke? and what of Miriam? 

“ Only time shall tell.” 

End of Pari First . 


59 


PART II. 


CHAPTER I. 

Eighteen times has the year been born, grown 
old, and died, since in the vaulted sarcophagus, in 
the city of x^bydos Hatsu, Miriam, and Alric, stood 
and spoke with one another. 

In the great scrolls that chronicled the history of 
Egypt’s national life, one can read how after leav- 
ing the city of Abydos, w T ith her retinue, the princess 
journeyed to the royal city, where to meet her, re- 
posing in a golden chariot, came King Tothmes the 
Second. 

You will read how the Princess alighting from 
her chariot, went on foot, to the King, then, kneel- 
ing upon the earth kissed with her red lips, his san- 
dalled feet and the hem of his robe. 

That, when she then arose, she was so wan, that 
those who beheld her feared lest death would snatch 
her from her bridegroom’s arms! 

You will read, how the mighty sovereign Tothmes 
the Second, recognizing in Hatsu, his long absent 
sister, clapped his hands, and laughed for joy, and 
then of how the trumpets pealed! and the bells 
rang out! 


6 1 


H atsu 


You will read that the wedding day dawned, and 
that great was the splendor of the raiment where- 
with all the court were decked, of how the High 
Priest Zelas stood for the first time before the peo- 
ple and because of the exceeding glory, and bright- 
ness of his presence how some were stricken blind 
and some fell dead. 

You will read how peace and prosperity filled the 
land how all industries flourished. How the sainted 
king, and his sister, the queen, lived in perfect hap- 
piness. Their only sorrow being, that no child came 
to them. 

And how at last, after many years, the prayers of 
the faithful and holy ones, were answered. For 
Queen Hatsu walked upon the upper court of her 
palace holding out to the people her hour old, son. 

You will read of the joy with which Egypt wel- 
comed this child and then it will be seen that the 
little Prince grew and throve and was his father’s 
constant playmate and companion. 

You will read how all that pertained to the deal- 
ings with foreign nations was entrusted to Alric, 
Mizram’s great general. And how in the campaigns 
into Punt, and the far regions beyond, the Queen, 
Hatsu, led the Army, fighting like a man in the field, 
and sharing the brunt of war with her soldiers. Thus 
was it, until the time of which we now shall speak. 


6 2 


H atsu 


CHAPTER II. 

The city residence of Alric, general in command 
of Their Majesties forces, was within the palace en- 
closure. 

The house was two stories in height, the ground 
being used for the servants’ quarters, offices, store- 
rooms, and the like, while the upper floor, was di- 
vided into commodious apartments and the flat top 
roof covered with linen awnings, forming a luxurious 
roof garden, where the master, his family and friends, 
were wont to spend their waking hours after sun- 
set, for in Egypt the storms are so infrequent, that 
only once or twice in a hundred years is there any 
down pouring. 

The structure of the house, was of burnt brick, 
and built in the form of a quadrangle. In the center 
was a court, laid out in walks that were bright with 
beds of flowers, and foliage plants, all glistening 
with the spray, thrown upon them by innumerable 
fountains. There too, were tanks full of brilliant 
colored, swiftly darting fish, and pools where the 
Lotus blossoms, (flower and leaf,) grew and throve 
casting a penetrating sweetness upon the air. 

The stairway (as in all Egyptian mansions) was 
upon the outer side of the building, the floors were 

63 


H atsu 


of some composite material and formed into squares 
of red and blue checker work, over which were laid 
rugs of white fur and large mats of colored camel’s 
hair. About the rooms w r ere scattered chairs, and 
divans, and tables of exquisite workmanship, the 
woods wonderfully polished and inlaid with gold and 
precious stones. And the chairs and lounges were 
cushioned and upholstered in rich silken stuffs. 

In the dining hail stood a huge sandal wood side- 
board not at all unlike in its fashioning, those used 
in houses a century ago and on this side-board were 
ranged golden flagons holding choice wines and 
cordials, golden filigree baskets, filled with fruits 
and flowers, golden goblets, and loving cups, golden 
ewers (or finger bowls) and delicate pottery; and 
there too, were to be found knives, and forks, and 
spoons. 

In this room were many little round tables cov- 
ered with dainty linen cloths of purest white, beau- 
tifully embroidered about their edges in representa- 
tion of roses, ferns, fruits, or berries. 

The walls were hung with trophies of the chase 
(for the Egyptian gentlemen were great hunters — * 
and fishermen too) and in this dining room in the 
city house of Alric some famous artist had painted 
on the ceding allegorical figures representing Pleas- 
ure, Plenty, and Hospitality; in this room as in all 

64 


H atsu 


the others there was a charcoal stove because during 
the year there are chilly days in Egypt. 

Then there was the Library where on shelf after 
shelf, lay the papyrus and parchment scrolls hold- 
ing a wealth of literature the science, history, poetry 
and fiction of many centuries. 

Beyond the Library after passing through a stone 
court one came to the bath. This was a high ceil- 
inged apartment sweet and cool and fragrant and in 
its centre was set a deep pool of ever running water. 
All along the walls of this room were closets in 
which every article necessary for the bath was to- 
be found. Brushes soft and hard, rough, and smooth, 
towels, ungents, oils, powders, perfumes and bags 
of brans and spices. This was not simply a luxury 
as in Egypt the preservation of health made it nec- 
essary to bathe at least five times daily. 

Seated at a table in his Library was the General 
in Chief of the Egyptian army and about him were 
gathered his staff. 

Time had dealt kindly with Alric his clear skin 
showed no wrinkling, his mouth was still firm, his 
lips red, his hair (worn in the fashion of his youth- 
ful days) was thick and lustrous although it showed 
the touch of frost here and there, but there was in 
the stern firm face of the general no reminder of 
the merry captain of the guards. 

“ Have you heard my lord,” said one of the offi- 

65 


Hatsu 


cers leaning forward, “ that our King’s new ships 
are exciting the admiration of all foreign nations?” 

“ Why should they not? ” cries another. “ Who 
ever before had ships propelled at the same time by 
both oars and sails ! each ship requiring thirty row- ■ 
and seventy sailors to man her? ” 

“ Is it true,” asks another, “ that an expedition is 
soon to be sent out to Punt to procure spice trees 
for our Botanical gardens? ” 

“ Let us hope,” adds a handsome fellow, “ that 
the ugly old Queen will not make this an opportunity 
to pay us another visit! never did I behold such a 
human monstrosity ! ” 

“ But I have later news still,” says another, tak- 
ing as he speaks his cigarette from his lips and watch- 
ing the smoke curl lazily up. 

“ Our chancellor of state has by the King’s com- 
mand, ordered that the supply of straw shall no 
longer be brought to the brick yards hereafter, the 
Israelites must gather their own straw when the 
day’s stint is over.” 

A man with a cynical face broke in upon his 
neighbor’s talk. “ This is done,” he said, “ to give 
these strangers less time for rest, and if possible 
weaken their bodily force.” 

“ It is true,” said another, “ that they breed like 
lice and that the providing of grain and other 
produce for the consumption of the Israelites, de- 

66 


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pletes the granaries of Mizram at least one half.” 
“ As f° r th eir appetites,” said Alric smiling, “ I will 
not gainsay that they are a hearty people, and why 
should they not be hungry? Surely the bread of 
the laboring man should be sweet, but my dear Bel- 
thazur, 1 can not agree to the Lord Chancellor’s 
dictum as regards prolificness, for my wife Miriam 
is an Israelite, and no child has blessed our bed lo ! 
these many years.” 

“ I did not know, my lord,” said the young officer 
blushing hotly, “ that my Lady Miriam was an 
Israelite. I am from a distant Nome, and but a 
few years in the King’s service, and so I beg you, 
pardon me.” 

“ Tut, tut,” said the General, smiling kindly upon 
the young soldier, “ the Lady Miriam is an individual 
Israelite, and we speak of the people, so I pray you 
go on.” “ To me,” said another, “ it is exasperat- 
ing to see how humbly, how uncomplainingly these 
foreigners take every new infliction; if they even 
murmured, there might be something interesting in 
it, but by the gods ! they say no word and bow lower 
and lower in quiet humility under each burden.” 

“ And,” added another, “ go on increasing more 
rapidly than ever.” 

“ But,” said one who had not yet spoken, “ none 
can call them coward or weakling who ever knew 

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H atsu 


an Israelite to forsake his faith, he may be bound 
and forced into a bodily submission, but his soul, he 
keeps loyal and steadfast to the service of his one 
God, Jehovah.” 

“ Yes,” said the cynical man, “ had they been less 
obstinate in their religious beliefs doubtless through 
their women, Israel could long since have gained 
freedom and have been allowed to depart, for where 
can one find such beautiful women or such prudes? 
Isis should by rights turn them into cats ! It would 
be an easy matter as their claws are already made.” 

A general laugh followed, and many were the 
mirthful questions put to the rather confused officer. 

“ What you say respecting the loyalty of the 
Israelites for their religion is true,” said the Gen- 
eral. “ The Lady Miriam was a slave to the Princess 
Hatsu, and by her presented to me as free wife 
upon the royal wedding day. She hath been in all 
things loyal and obedient, faithful and true, but she 
has reared no altar in my home save to the one God, 
and that altar is within her heart.” 

“Was the Queen’s mother an Israelite?” asks 
one. “ I have heard it so said, because of the young 
Prince’s likeness to that race.” 

“ Nay, nay,” answered Alric. “ The Queen’s 
mother came from far to the northward, where she 
told her husband (the King) there fell through many 

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moons of the year a rain, that was white, and lay 
like a carpet of purity over the brown earth.” 

“ There were those,” says the cynical man, “ when 
the Queen Hatsu appeared upon her balcony, an hour 
after the birth of her son, with the child in her 
arms, that did question the truth of her having given 
Egypt an heir, but they were foreign born and from 
afar, and did not know that Egyptian women resent 
with scorn the plaint of child-bed weakness and such 
dalliance, and so rise at once the pang is spent, to 
fulfill their housewifely ministrations.” 

“ And, by the way,” quoth another, “ what ever 
did become of the boy, the child that the King 
Tothmes the First bought at the same time as he 
did Queen Elatsu’s mother?” 

“ That will never be known,” said Alric quietly. 
“ It is a secret that the King buried with his own 
body. There is a tale (I cannot vouch for its truth) 
that once upon a time, in answer to this same ques- 
tion, one (who was doubtless demented, or addled 
with wine) did say that the child became in time our 
great High Priest Zelas, but on the morrow this 
man was found lying dead and no one doubts that 
' the wrath of Osirus overtook him ! but let us leave 
these unsolvable speculations, and return to the 
Israelites. I doubt the wisdom of their retention.” 

“ Let me speak to your question most noble Gen- 
eral.” It was a new voice — the voice of the youngest 

69 


H atsu 

son of Tothmes the First, brother to the reigning 
King. 

“ We should miss the skilled labor of the Israel- 
ites. In a thousand industrial ways they pay amply 
for their keep.” 


70 


H atsu 


CHAPTER III. 

Even as he speaks there is a shuffling of feet heard, 
and into the room led by a beautiful child — a boy 
of eight years old — comes a something that makes 
even the strong men present involuntarily shrink, as 
they all rise and bow low before it. 

The creature is robed in white and scarlet, and 
on his brow there is fitted a crown of gold, glitter- 
ing with diamonds, and rubies, emeralds and pearls. 

His protruding, wandering eyes have a blank stare, 
his full, wide open, drooling lips are mumbling 
something, but he has a firm grasp on the child’s 
hand, and the child leads him. 

“ It is the King,” cries a sweet treble voice. “ The 
King, my father, and we have run away from our 
good Miriam, for we are tired of our clay dolls, 
are we not, my father? ” 

“ Are we not, my father; are we not, my father? ” 
mumbles the idiot, and then looking into the child’s 
face, he falls into a fit of immoderate laughter and 
in the midst of it a woman enters. Although long 
past youth she is as slight as a girl, typically Egypt- 
ian in feature and coloring. She has about her 
something individual and distinctive and she is clad 
in a costume that is masculine in most of its make-up. 


7i 


H atsu 


Her upper garment is a tightly-fitting waist, with 
a full skirt that reaches just to below the knee and 
made of bright scarlet stuff. Over this she wears 
a corslet of finely wrought, flexible gold that clings 
to her slight, beautiful figure like a glove. In lieu 
of sleeves she is literally covered by bands of dia- 
monds from forearm to wrist. A broad collar of 
diamonds encircles her throat. Upon her head is a 
cap, sewn thick with jewels, and her feet and legs 
are encased in sandals and leggins like those worn 
by the officers of the Egyptian army. 

As she enters the men salute her as their superior 
officer. She in return lifts one of her small hands to 
her jeweled cap in token of recognition. 

Thus she passes on until she reaches the side of 
the King, when, laying her hand firmly upon his 
shoulder, she says some gentle words to him that 
stay his mirth, that transform him, for his leering 
grin gives place to a solemn closing of the thick lips 
over the great wolfish teeth, and, seating himself in 
a chair he says slowly and distinctly: “ Hatsu, the 
Goddess Queen, will speak my wishes ” ; but his 
eyes look longingly at the boy, beside his chair, the 
sunny-haired boy, whose hand is still clasped within 
his own — the little Prince, his son, who nestles his 
golden head against his mother’s gown. 

“ The King,” says Queen Hatsu gravely, “ the 
great King Tothmes the Second, my saintly husband, 

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Hatsu 

bids me speak lest the effort of words too much weary 
his great mind. 

“ He wishes that among ourselves (as among 
trusted and bosom friends) we speak fully concern- 
ing the Israelites, and that this might be the better 
accomplished he has called to private audience the 
two learned men who have of late come out of 
Midian to plead Israel’s cause with Egypt. One 
of these men has strong claim to the throne’s affec- 
tion, for our late lamented father and King had a 
twin sister, whom he fondly loved. This sister did 
take from the Nile’s bosom an infant, and yearning 
toward it as a mother yearns for her child, the 
Princess made the waif her own and reared him as 
a prince of the land; great of mind was this adopted 
son; his play was study, his friends the sages; gentle 
and good was he, slow to anger and of much compas- 
sion, but silent was he because of a faltering in his 
speech. So grew he into early manhood, then on 
a sudden he vanished. Egypt knew him no more. 
’Tis said the Princess sped his going and being an 
Israelite he returned to his own. Now he has come 
again into Egypt and with him is his brother, Aaron, 
to make plea for the loosing of his people. We would 
have this matter speedily settled, that we may turn 
o-ir thoughts upon more important matters, for you 
will recall that we have sent an embassy to her most 
gracious highness the Queen of Punt, asking her to 


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Hatsu 


be again our guest, and we must bring her thither in 
all pomp and honor, and it ill becomes us to make 
her a witness to the wailings of the Israelites.” 

She has never let her eyes wander from the face of 
the King, as she has spoken, nor does she lift them 
when Alric says: “Gracious Queen and sovereign 
lady, who is there in Egypt that shall dispute the 
wisdom of our sainted sovereign, and surely we all 
know that people everywhere in the land are saying 
that the man Moses, and his brother, Aaron, come 
to Mizram vested with more than human power, 
that shall make Egypt suffer if she refuse to let 
Israel go.” 

A voice interrupts Alric. It is the calm, clear 
voice of the King’s brother. “ The King,” he says 
haughtily, “ is all powerful! His will prevails. He 
rules Egypt’s night as well as Egypt’s day. He 
need not fear harm through the threats of Moses 
and Aaron. Superstition and ignorant fear have no 
place with Egypt’s King and Egypt’s councillors! 
Let us bid Gethro’s son go back to his sheep ! let 
him seek among the Midian hills a weakly race that 
listens trembling to old housewives’ prophecies! Nay, 
nay, we should be mad to rid ourselves of such skilled 
workmen. My lord King, speak thou to these fool- 
ish ones and say Israel shall abide.” 

It was Hatsu who replied: “It is well,” she 
said slowly, “ that we have one among us so keen 


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H a tsu 


for the welfare and interest of his brother the King 
and for the little Prince, the King that is to be, and 
while all the words that thou hast spoken are wise, 
the King shall, in his own good time, say HIS royal 
will.” It was at this juncture that the child spoke. 

“ My mother,” he said, “ how can the Israelites 
do good work for Egypt when they are being 
famished and beaten? and why do you, my good 
uncle, wish to bring suffering upon our dear Miriam, 
for Miriam is an Israelite? She does not worship 
the many gods of Egypt! I am the Prince Royal, 
the great King’s only son, and I would make my 
father say that Israel shall go ! ” 

As the child began his speech the idiot had leaned 
forward in his chair and a light came into his dull 
eyes, a something of intelligence, as he replied : “ Let 
Israel go ! Let Israel go ! ” 

But what had come to the Queen? Was she for 
all her soldierly bearing a wilful women? Surely no 
other motive could have so changed the current of 
her purpose ! surely it was that which made her hap- 
pening by chance to look into the General’s eyes to 
say : 

“Child, child, hold thy peace! It is the great 
King’s will that Israel shall not go, but go on to 
bitterer bondage, to a more intense servitude.” “ But, 
my mother, listen!” cried the child, “he said go, 
and not go on.” It was then Miriam entered and 


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Hatsu 


Hatsu turned wearily to her saying: “Take him 
hence. His ceaseless prattle disturbs the Monarch’s 
great thought.” 

It was some power, mightier than man, that made 
the silent, gentle Miriam answer: “ My Queen, 
fail not to remember, that out of the mouths of 
babes comes perfect wisdom, God’s own truth ! Thy 
son is a prophet ! Listen to his plea ere it be too 
late! for the w r rath of Jehovah, when it is kindled, 
does not quench till His will is done! The wrath 
of the God of Israel shall ere long darken this land ! 
Hark, ye ! has all your years of binding broken our 
strength ? Our children wax strong ! our cattle mul- 
tiply ! Listen to wisdom ere it be too late ! listen to 
the great King’s counsel! and let Israel go! ” Then 
in the profound stillness, she stretched out her hand 
to the child, who, disentangling his other hand with 
much effort from his father (who was only stayed 
from following in obedience to some whispered words 
of the Queen), the two departed. 


7 6 


Hatsu 


CHAPTER IV. 

Then it was that Hatsu spoke. “ Bring in the 
prophets of Israel,” she said, “ that they may hear 
the King’s decree and so waste no more time in idle 
hoping.” 

And into the apartment were ushered two men. 

Both were far past middle life. One was small 
and thin, with pinched features and bright, gray 
eyes; the other was tall and grandly formed, and 
both were in the garb of shepherds. 

They stood two mute figures before the chair of 
Tothmes the Second, and although it was the custom 
of the age to bend low the knee before sovereignty, 
neither man did aught save to wait his bidding. 

It was the Princess Hatsu who addressed them. 

“ We have bidden you to come hither,” she said, 
“ that you might, oh great Poet and Lawgiver of 
Israel, speak with the freedom of a friend to us, of 
that, which has brought you back after many years 
into Egypt.” 

It was Aaron who spoke. Yet while his sweet, 
strong voice told the story, the eyes of all were fixed 
upon the silent lips of Moses. 

“ Great Queen of Egypt,” began Aaron (and all 
remembered that to the poor idiot he addressed never 


77 


H atsu 


a word). “There stands before you on this day, 
an instrument of the Almighty. One who by the will 
of the All Powerful, shall in time, rear out of ruins 
and ashes, out of ignorant, broken-spirited slaves, a 
great and enduring nation; a people that shall live 
with the riches of this globe when Egypt is but a 
faded memory. Of this glory that is to be, Moses 
is promised no portion, and no place, and being 
meekest of all men that are upon the face of the 
earth, he is satisfied to be the humblest servant of his 
Lord. There is for him no glory but the glory of 
God. Moses has dwelt always, in spirit, in Egypt. 
He has never day or night ceased to think upon the 
bondage of his people. And who knows the pur- 
poses of Mizram better than this son of Israel that 
stands before you. He is the adopted son of 
Pharaoh’s great daughter. Aye it is from out of 
the tenderness of his heart for his adopted mother, 
and his adopted kinsmen, that he has pleaded with 
the God of Israel to stay His hand, that he might 
warn Egypt of the woes that shall before long befall 
her if she still holds Israel in thrall. Therefore he 
asks, oh gracious Queen, that thou loosen the cords, 
and open the gates, and bid thy bondsmen depart 
in peace.” 

“ Spare thy prayer.” It was the King’s brother 
that spoke. “We fear not thy one God, so hurl 
thy threats quickly that we may laugh them to scorn.” 

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Hatsu 


There was no look of anger in the gentle face, 
and no tone of bitterness in the strong, sweet voice 
that said : 

“ Our God hath thus spoken to Moses, His 
Prophet: ‘Oh thou, who feedest thy flocks beside 
the green pastures, and the still waters, arise and 
get thee down into Egypt, and take with thee Aaron, 
thy brother, that he may speak for thee, and say 
thou, unto her, who holds the hearts of her people 
in the hollow of her woman’s hand: “Hear, oh 
Egypt, harken unto the voice of the God of Israel. 
Lo ! behold ! the cry of Israel has reached the Mercy 
Seat and the wailing must cease.” Thus saith the 
Lord. “Or most surely Egypt shall learn the power 
of the Most High.” ’ 

“Hark, ye, oh Queen, an army shall fall upon 
Egypt and devour her substance; its ranks shall be 
unseen; its warriors shall be called famine, fever, 
pestilence and death. Take thou our challenge, oh 
stubborn of heart, for we two standing unarmed, 
save for our shepherd’s staffs, shall alone abide un- 
harmed in your midst when the will of our God shall 
be accomplished to the uttermost. Aye, not one hair 
of our heads shall ye touch for we are the anointed 
of Heaven. Listen, oh Queen, the princes of this 
world come to naught! Kingdoms fall and are for- 
gotten, but the glory of the God of Israel remaineth 
forever. Once, yet again, for the love he bears the 


79 


Hatsu 


home of his youth, for the land that heard his first 
cry, does Moses plead: Oh Mizram, loose thy vain 
pride and let Israel go.” 

“And who is thy God?” (It was Alric who 
spoke.) “ Show us some sign by which we may be 
convinced of his power.” 

Then the silent Moses lifted a small, lithe rod, 
which he held in one of his hands, and, lo! it was 
a rod no longer; but a serpent, the enemy of man! 
And it gazed with hungry eyes and spake with a 
hissing tongue! Then Alric drew from out his tunic 
a similar rod and it, too, changed into a scorpion, 
larger and fiercer than that, which the man Moses 
had created, and these two accursed objects, viewing 
each other, forgot man, and engaged in mortal com- 
bat the one with the other, and, lo ! the serpent of 
Moses swallowed the serpent of Alric, and so doing, 
vanished. 

With a laugh Alric threw down his wand. 

“ Thy skill, oh free Israelite,” he said, “ exceed- 
eth mine. What say you of this power as a test of 
the God of Israel’s might to perform upon Egypt, 
that which He threatens?” 

The Prince had watched with keenest interest 
and he now replied, rather than the Princess: “ No 
test of foolish magic will move our King from his 
purpose, believe me. I speak both the will of the 
King and his sainted Queen, when I say Israel will 

80 


H atsu 


abide in Egypt,” and as though hushed by a power 
that she could not baffle, while her heart and soul 
were filled with protest, Hatsu held her peace. 

Then Aaron spoke : “ But Israel shall go and 

Egypt shall open her gates and cry, ‘ Depart, depart, 
ere the remnant of us be lost forever.’ Listen ! In 
some near at hand day, Nature shall break no law, 
when she makes this fair land a chaos of misery! 
Your rivers and lakes shall be like unto blood, and 
the fish that is in them shall die and the people shall 
turn away with loathing, though their throats be 
parched and their thirst be intolerable. Then shall 
the waters breed frogs, and they shall be tame in their 
boldness, and go up into the houses, and consume 
all that there is therein, from the fair hangings on 
the palace walls, to the dough in the humblest 
dwellers’ kneading troughs, and then if my people 
be not free, the dust of the land shall become fleas, 
and lice, and these shall fall upon man and beast 
and devour their bodies while they yet live, and then 
if wisdom comes not to thee, oh Egypt, there^ shall 
rise swarms of flies that shall buzz and sting without 
ceasing and a murrain shall come on thy beasts, 
tiie cattle and the horses and the camels, the oxen 
and the sheep, and a boil shall follow, breaking forth 
with blains upon man and beast ! Then upon Egypt 
a tempest shall fall, whose like was never known— 
a tempest of hail that shall cut like a sword of fire 


81 


H atsu 


that shall kill — of wind that howls, and tears, and 
destroys; and the hail shall smite the field, and the 
fire from heaven shall consume the cattle, and every 
green thing shall die ! The trees shall perish ! The 
flax shall be useless for the loom ! The barley shall 
give no yield ! Then shall come the locusts, singing 
a mournful song! They shall cover all things that 
be left, and then, be ye warned, if thou still vaunt 
thyself, there shall come a midnight wherein all the 
first born of the land shall die ! The first born of 
Pharoah that sitteth upon the throne and the first 
born of the lowliest in the realm! No hearth shall 
be spared ! Listen, oh Queen ! give heed to my word, 
oh councillors ! for what the Lord saith that will He 
surely perform.” 

It was with the same relentlessness that the Queen 
made answer: 

“ Go back, Shepherd Prophets, to your flocks and 
herds ! Your threatenings we do not heed ! In the 
name of King Tothmes the Second of Egypt, I bid 
you depart, and wish you peace.” The great Law- 
giver felt, as the queen spoke, a hand upon his robe, 
and looking down beheld it in the grasp of the 
fingers of the idiot King. And he heard softly, but 
distinctly, these words: “Let Israel go! Let Israel 
go ! ” And it stirred in his grand soul a tender pity. 

“ Israel shall go,” he said gently, “ and thy will 
(which thy people feign to misinterpret) is remem- 

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H atsu 


bered in love, by the God of all the earth. Egypt 
shall harden her heart, and the sorrows of her sin 
shall fall upon her; but when Israel goes out thy 
soul shall go, too, and, leaving its poor tenement of 
clay, will inherit a better kingdom, wherein our God 
shall give thee light.” 


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Hatsu 


CHAPTER V. 

In one of the summer houses — or arbors — of the 
King’s garden, Miriam sat that day as the sun went 
down, her eyes fixed upon the forms of the King, 
and the little Prince, his son, who were busily at 
play with a mimic squadron in one of the smaller 
tanks or pools. So intent was her watching that she 
was startled to find the King’s brother standing 
beside her and mindful of her duty to royalty she 
arose. 

“ Nay, nay, my lady,” said the prince, “ do not 
rise to do me reverence! It is more meet that I 
should bend to thee.” Miriam paid little heed to 
these words. She had been reared amid the meaning- 
less flattery of the court, but she nevertheless resumed 
her seat, and was not surprised to have the Prince 
take the vacant place beside her. “ It is to be 
regretted, my lady,” he said, “that, you did not 
linger in the council chamber to-day and hear the 
great prophet speak Egypt’s doom! Your Moses 
(through the lips of Aaron his brother) bids us 
prepare for many calamities, and at Nature’s door 
he lays them all ! wind, rain, hail, a devouring insect 
horde, and then, if we hold Israel still, the grim 

84 


H atsu 

spectre called Death will make a gleaning of Miz- 
ram’s first born.” 

“ All this have I heard from the Queen, my lord,” 
replied Miriam quietly. “ And it will surely befall, 
as he has said, and, when it is accomplished, and 
Israel goes out, you will be the King.” The Prince 
drew nearer to Miriam. “ And where wilt thou be 
in that day?” he said slowly, and his eyes looked 
into hers with something that had a mingled motive 
(for Miriam was too pure of soul to inspire only 
carnal love, and for Miriam the Prince had felt an 
absorbing passion lo, these many years). u Nay,” 
she answered. “ It matters not to me, save that I 
wish thee well, and pray that thy reign may be one 
of peace, and prosperity, to Egypt.” “ And where 
wilt thou be, when Tothmes is dead and I am King? ” 
he said. “ Sire,” she made answer, “ I am an Israel- 
ite. When my people go hence I shall not be left 
in Egypt.” “ But the child,” he said, and as he 
uttered the word it seemed as though he sought 
through the word to read her inmost soul. “ The 
child, can you bear to part from him ? ” She laid 
her hand upon her heart and paled as though his 
words had the hurt of a blow; but she lifted her 
sw r eet, untroubled eyes to his face and said: “I, 
too, have thought of this parting from the child, but 
did Aaron not tell you, that when you sit upon the 
throne, the little Prince shall be no more. Nay,” 

85 


Hatsu 


she said, as though speaking to herself, “ I will not 
leave him in Egypt, I will not leave him, until God 
takes him.” 

A madness seemed to sweep over the Prince. He 
drew closer to Miriam’s side and whispered: “ You 
shall not go hence, life of my life, soul of my soul. 
I have prayed to all the gods that the famine, and 
the fever, the pestilence, and the thirst may come ! 
That yonder gibbering idiot, yonder fatherless child, 
may give up the ghost; that Hatsu may fall dead, 
and you alone be spared. Then may Israel go, if you, 
beloved, remain, my queen, sharing my throne. You 
who since my earliest boyhood have reigned supreme 
in my soul. I will be so tender to you, so much your 
slave, that ere I die you will love me, and in your 
love my high’est desire will be fulfilled. Listen, 
what I tell you is true. Yonder Prince is but a Prince 
in name ! He has no claim of heirship to the throne ! 
He is a nameless waif, his parentage unknown; but 
for your sake, for your love, I would set him before 
the people, and call him King. And so, sweet one, 
go not out with Israel, but abide in Mizram, for 
the child’s sake.” As he still speaks she puts her 
hand upon her heart, then she lays her head back 
against the wall of the summer house, and to his 
horror, life seems departing from her! She grows 
ghastly to look upon. Terror stricken, conscience 
86 


H atsu 

smitten (for he loves her better than himself) he 
turns and flees. 

Scarcely have his feet gained a safe retreat, when 
Alric enters the arbor. “ It is well,’’ he mutters 
as he catches sight of Miriam. “ I came none too 
soon ! I felt some poisonous thing was hovering too 
near my white rose.” He came to her side and made 
mystic signs, and called her by the name of “ Gwen- 
eth.” She opened her eyes. “ What wouldst thou, 
master,” she said. “Where art thou?” he asked. 

“ Here beside thee, master, but oh, so longing for 
rest. This journey through the flesh has been a bitter 
one. I have come e’en close to my beloved, and yet 
another has gained his love. It is hard to serve 
without reward. I pray you, my master, let me 
begone ! ” 

With a tenderness drawn from him, against 
judgment, the man Alric knelt beside her, and 
kissed her white hand. “ Sweet one,” he said, “ the 
journey is nearly over. Would that I might tell 
thee what thou art become to me. I dare not, lest 
I lose my power over the thoughts and actions of 
the many, through the knowledge that you alone 
can impart. Yes, sweet soul, thy mission is all 
but ended in Egypt, as is also that of thy brave 
sister soul. So go forth again Gweneth, and come 
not as twain to me in any eon of rolling time, but 
wait, until as one soul, I can meet and claim you, 

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Hatsu 

forever and forever. But speak, oh Gweneth, who 
went from thee? ” 

“ It was the Prince, the King’s brother. Long 
has he loved Miriam, the Israelite; long has he 
worshipped her from afar; and to-day he did speak 
to her of his hopes, when Egypt held out its crown 
to him.” 

“ And,” said Alric slowly, “ Egypt will soon call 
him King. But haste to speak to me of other things, 
dear spirit, for it is thy last service. Reveal to me 
the close at hand story of Egypt.” 

A sigh escaped the white lips ere she said softly: 
“ There will be an exodus of many besides the Israel- 
ites. The idiot King, the fair young Prince, Zelas 
the High Priest, Hatsu and Miriam shall go on, and 
Alric alone shall be left to abide in the land of his 
father, lo, these many years. Zelas and Hatsu shall 
be caught up in a chariot of fire, and the King and 
the Prince shall die, to ransom Israel, and in that 
same hour a merciful shaft from heaven shall set 
Miriam free.” She stretched out her arms and cried: 
“I pray thee, good master, let me go! for I am 
weary.” 

With a sigh Alric arose. “ It will be as thou 
sayest, sweet one,” he said, “ our day is over, and 
another night of short oblivion draws near, for the 
many.” Then he made some passes above her, call- 
ing: “Wake, Miriam, awake!” The color came 

88 


H atsu 


stealing back into her cheeks and lips, and she looked 
up to Alric with a perplexed smile. “ I am such a 
sleepy one,” she said, “ and such a dreamer of 
dreams ! Listen, my lord, as I sat me here watching 
the King and the little Prince at their play, I fell 
asleep and had such a strange vision. I thought that 
the King’s brother came to this arbor, and talked 
to me as would a lover. It was an idle, idle dream.” 
And then she rose and (as a mother might) drew 
the head of Alric down to her breast and kissed 
him. 


89 


H atsu 


CHAPTER VI. 

And now the prophecy had been fulfilled. The 
once fair land lay a barren waste. Egypt so long in 
thralldom to her myriad gods, was helpless, speech- 
less, and prayerless, before the might of the ONE 
Jehovah. Hope was dead, courage had fled, and 
naught seemed left but a remnant of stubborn will 
in which to still cry out: “ Israel shall not go.” 

The hour had come in which the last curse was 
to fall. Scarce had the sun gone down when the 
idiot King gave up the ghost, and through all the 
realm there arose a wailing cry: “Oh, my first 
born; oh, my son, my son! ” 


90 


H a tsu 


CHAPTER VII. 

In an upper room in the palace lay the little Prince. 
Through the open casement the moon looked in. 
Kneeling beside him was Miriam, her face buried 
in her hands, her body shaken by sobs. The child 
was speaking. “ Dear Miriam,” he said, “ do not 
bid me linger in this parched land. I fain would go 
to the better country; one I love waits for me there. 
Didn’t thou not tell me, that when Israel’s great 
prophet stood to warn Egypt, that he did bless my 
father, the King, and promise to him a place in the 
heaven of heavens? Dear Miriam, the King has 
gone out of Egypt. Hark! how the heralds cry 
it through the streets! ‘The King is dead,’ they 
say. ‘Long live the King.’ I cannot linger here, 
I must go to him. He will lose his way; he could 
not find the golden gates; he does not know the 
angels; I led him here, and I must lead him there. 
Nay, sweet nurse, do not weep ! I fain would go ! 
Hark! he calls me. My father have but patience 
for a little while ! I come.” And then the child 
fell, panting, back among his pillows. 

Rising from her knees Miriam stood for one 
moment looking down upon him, then, all unnoticed, 
in the wild confusion of grief that was sweeping 


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like a flood through every home in the city, she made 
her way out of the palace, and the gates, to the plain 
beyond, where in a rude hut dwelt the prophet 
Moses and his brother, Aaron, waiting until the time 
should come for them to guide Israel out of Egypt. 
With no asking for admittance, Miriam entered the 
hut, and seeing Aaron within, she hastened to throw 
herself at his feet. “ Oh, my lord,” she cried, “ I 
come to beg of thee, in the name of Jehovah, take 
all Egypt, but spare the life of Hatsu’s son, the little 
Prince! No dearer could he be to me, my lord, 
had I carried him for nine long moons under my 
heart, no dearer had I known the pangs that bring 
the joyous gift to motherhood. My lord, take me, 
an unworthy daughter of Israel, aye, blot out my 
soul for all eternity, but spare the child ! ” 

Upon her bowed head the prophet laid a gentle 
hand. 

“ Miriam, daughter of Abram,” he said, “ no 
more faithful child hath God of Israel than thou. 
Thy human form has been used, as a shield, by those 
to whom thou hast given thy pure love; but they 
have had no power to touch thy white soul. It is not 
the will of the 4 All-Wise ’ that thine eyes should 
see, on this earth, that which has been hidden from 
thee. But be comforted, for thy God is a God of 
Mercy, and so let the child go in peace. The little 
one that thou hast reared, to say thy prayers, and 


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call upon the Blessed One of Israel, shall see no 
evil days, aye, ere thy returning feet shall cross the 
threshold of the city gates the child shall die, and 
thou shalt quickly follow him.” 

With a moan of hopeless agony, Miriam arose. 
She said no word of parting. She turned and made 
her way back across the barren moonlit plain, A 
cloud now covered the moon, and a strange low- 
voiced wind arose that was like unto a warning cry; 
but Miriam heeded naught; she hurried on repeat- 
ing through her white lips: “ God is greater than 
Moses ! God is greater than Aaron ! God notes the 
fall of the bird from its nest, and He will hear my 
prayer! He will hear! Oh, my Father in Heaven, 
spare the child, spare the child! ” 

There comes to some, in every age of time, the 
actual power of reaching the source of light. It is 
to the mother that this awful privilege is oftenest 
granted. When in her supreme agony of love she 
spans all space and reaches the eternal to beg the life 
of her child. 

Suddenly Miriam stood still, her cry ceased and 
in a quiet voice she spake to the great silence : 

“ What is it that Thou sayest to my soul? Aye, 
I know the words, ‘ Be strong and of good courage; 
fear not, for it is the Lord that doth go with thee; 
He will not fail thee or forsake thee.’ Yea, they 
are sweet and comforting words ! What is Thy 


93 


H atsu 


name, Thou that art clothed in light?” Then she 
stretched forth her hands, a smile came to her lips. 
“ Thou art an angel of the Lord,” she cried. “ Aye, 
spirit, I will lean upon thy breast and thou shalt 
lead me through the gates.” 

And the prophet Aaron, watching Miriam from 
his doorway (for the moon had come out of hiding 
and again the parched plain was as bright as at mid- 
day) lifted up his voice and said: “ Keep Thy 
strong arm about her, oh Merciful One; rest her 
weary head upon thy loving, tender breast, for Thou, 
too, in Thy time of earthly sojourn, knew the yearn- 
ing of the Mother heart. Oh, thou shining one, 
thou, too, wert once like her, a sorrowing woman, 
and thy God, and Miriam’s God, hath sent thee to 
lead her through the gate.” 


94 


H atsu 


CHAPTER VIII. 

The low muttering had grown to louder tone, 
the wind came in mad gusts. There were vivid 
ribbons of fire, and great reverberating crashes of 
thunder. 

Beside the little bed on which lay the dead child 
knelt Miriam, and at the foot of the couch stood the 
Queen and Alric. It would have been hard to tell 
which of the two faces (the man’s or the woman’s) 
showed the less of fear or sorrow. The ravages of 
pestilence, famine and fever had left them unmoved 
and the present visitation of death they were meet- 
ing in quiet and silence. The great General had 
no tears to shed for the dead King, or the dead 
King’s little son, and the woman warrior stood dry 
eyed, gazing upon the fast stiffening body of the 
child. 

To Miriam this calmness meant a pent up agony. 
So, forgetting her own sorrow, she strove to form 
words of comfort for the Queen; and as she spoke 
the darkness grew deeper, and the very air became, 
as it were shut out, so that not in breaths, but in 
gasps, did the stifling Egyptians strive to fill their 
lungs. A silence fell, a great hush came, and in 
its midst a man crawled into the room and stopped 


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at the Queen’s feet, then he gasped out: “Zelas, 
the great High Priest, bids thee, oh Queen, and 
thee, my Lord Alric, to hasten to him. He waits, in 
the secret grotto, under the Sphinx,” As he uttered 
the last word, he fell dead. It was at this instant 
that an awful flood of light filled the room. In its 
glory one saw that Miriam, with an ecstatic smile, 
arose for an instant, stretched her arms upward, and 
fell lifeless across the body of the little Prince. 

Then the storm burst, and the blessed rain fell, 
and the curse had been lifted. * * * 

When the storm was over, Israel went out of 
Egypt, and Tothmes the Third (a wiser and a better 
man for this awful visitation) began with speed to 
renew, rebuild, and re-create Egypt, to a higher 
place among the nations of the earth. 

For centuries it was believed, by the most learned, 
that on that fateful night, Hatsu, Alric and Zelas 
were carried by Osirus, into his own kingdom, for 
no mortal eye ever beheld them more, living or dead; 
neither did any see them depart. * * * 

In Syria there dwelt, for many years, a wise 
man. He came from none knew whither, and as 
he was great in sorcery, none dared provoke his 
wrath by questionings. He left naught upon his 
death, but a scroll on which w T ere written characters 
so strange that none could find their meaning. So 
the baffled scholars of each generation bequeathed 

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it to the next and thus the scroll was treasured through 
much time, until at last, one was born, who said: 
“ I can read what is written therein,” and when he 
read the wise men of his day laughed him to scorn, 
and cried out that he was mad. “ To think,” they 
said, “ that the world has been treasuring this scroll 
for centuries, only to be rewarded with what is at 
best an unfinished and impossible love tale.” 

Here is what the scholar found written upon the 
parchment : 


97 


Hatsu 


CHAPTER IX. 

u The shadows of life are gathering thick and 
fast, and my long day on earth is drawing to its 
close, and I fain would write, ere it be too late, that 
which the world should know from me, when the 
time is ripe for its revealing. 

“ On the night of the fulfillment of the last curse, 
as the Queen and I stood by the bed whereon lay 
my dead child, and while the all unconscious mother, 
Miriam, strove to comfort the Queen, Hatsu and 
I were summoned to attend upon Zelas the High 
Priest. The place to which he called us was a sub- 
terranean grotto, under the great Sphinx, a secret 
retreat known to but a few in all the kingdom, and 
where had been long established that which was 
called, by the initiated, ‘ the chamber of perfect 
peace.’ This place was so hidden away by a laba- 
rinth of stairs and passages that, without the key to 
its winding ways, he who entered would be hope- 
lessly lost. This ‘ chamber of rest ’ was hewn out 
of solid rock, and held two cradles, in which through 
many generations a chosen number of the greatest 
and the best had been rocked to a final sleep. It 
was a mad night. Egypt in all her history had 
known no such warring of the elements, but the Queen 

98 


H atsu 


and I, heedless of all else, but the bidding of Zelas, 
made our way out of the palace, and through the 
plague-ridden city. None marked us, as we hurried 
on. Like two children, hand in hand, we walked, a 
speechless pair, but true companions in adversity, 
until we came at length, to the appointed place. Then 
it was that the Princess spoke to me. ‘ The storm 
is fast spending itself,’ she said slowly. ‘ On the 
morrow the sky will be blue again, and the sun will 
shine. Israel will depart, and Egypt will lift up 
her bowed head, and Tothmes, my brother, will 
reign. It is my will that thou, follow me to the end, 
that, as I close my eyes, in a last sleep, I may see thy 
face; for, in spite of warrior fame, in spite of prowess 
in the chase, I carry a woman’s heart, and thou alone 
have had an altar there ! Nay, let me tell thee 
more, I had rather have lived my lonely empty life, 
with just the dream of what it could have been, as 
thine honored wife, than to have been given, any 
other portion, however blessed / 

“ My soul was stirred by this tenderness. ‘ Great 
Queen,’ I made answer, ‘why must we enter here? 
the night is dark, and in its gloom, we will leave 
the city; then in some safe retreat, and under names 
unknown, we will begin a life of happiness that 
shall be but the foretaste' of innumerable re-unitings 
in the progression from world to world.’ She shook 
her head sadly, ‘ Nay,’ she said, ‘ not now, not now, 


99 


H atsu 


my plane is higher than thine, and I can not stoop 
to thee, much and fondly though I love thee; when 
we can meet as soul equals, we shall not part, believe 
me, and so good-bye, and know in some beyond of 
time, we shall meet and understand, now come 

“ Guided by the Princess, we wended our way to 
one of the claws of the great sphinx. There, she 
knelt down, and said some mystic words. A stone 
slid noiselessly aside, and we entered the opening 
and found ourselves in a long corridor. The air was 
pure and sweet, aye, even fragrant, as though per- 
fumed with growing flowers, lights glimmered along 
the walls, lights created by a subtle power in nature 
known only to the most learned. With the ease of 
one who treads a frequented way, the Queen led 
me, until we came to a door, that opened as the 
other had done at her bidding, and we stood inside 
a brilliantly lighted hall, at whose farther end (and 
built out into the room,) was that which seemed 
to be a white tomb, with a grated entrance gate. No 
one was in sight, and the Queen, bidding me be seated 
and await her further orders, turned into one of the 
arched door-ways, and disappeared. 

“ How long I sat thus in solitude, none can tell; 
at last through the same portal she came back, and 
with her my master Zelas; both were in the robes 
of their office; jewels glittered upon them like hoar 
frost, and there was that in the set faces, that spoke 


ioo 


H atsu 


of the to come. The Queen, said no word; but I 
felt that her eyes dwelt upon me with a tenderness 
unspeakable. It was Zelas my master that broke the 
silence. 

“ ‘ Alric, beloved,’ he said, ‘ the hour is come, in 
which we twain must depart. Keep thou a silent 
tryst, until yon clock shall toll ten times the hour. 
Then rise, open the wicket gate, and enter without 
fear to gather that which thou shalt find into the 
urn I hold; then, with this scroll in thy hand, learn 
the way to return again, to the world. Day shall 
scarce have dawned, and the tired nation will be 
wrapped in a deep sleep; go thou up, and out of 
Egypt, and with thee, bear the urn and when thou 
art upon the edge of Mizrarn’ s skirt, scatter the 
ashes, thou hast by thee, to the four winds of heaven. 
Alric, beloved, adieu; somewhere, souls meet again, 
somewhere .’ 

“ He lifted his grand face upward, and his lips 
moved as if in prayer; — then the twain turned, and 
entered through the gate. All was silent, and the 
unseen bell told the hours, until full ten had come 
and gone; then I rose, and betook me to the iron gate, 
opened it, and found myself in a low room that held 
two white cradles. The cradles were empty, but in 
the hollow stone basin under each, lay small heaps 
of white ashes. No trace of fire, no melted gold, 
no dulled gem was there, no sign by which to tell, 


ioi 


H atsu 


which had been Queen and which High Priest. I 
stooped and gathered the dust into the urn, took my 
scroll, and so departed, and in the early dawn (as 
Zelas had bade me) I went out of Egypt. 

“ Years have come and gone since then, so many, 
that the past of which I write seems like a dream and 
in my heart, there has come to be a longing, to see 
once more, the faces of Miriam, and Hatsu, but most 
of all to hear again , the voice of the little child — 
Miriam’s child and mine.” 


THE END. 


102 







































































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